


Unchained Determination

by MoonstarMax



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Aged-Up Frisk (Undertale), Aged-up Asriel, Aged-up Chara, Asriel is a bean, Chara is very protective, F/F, F/M, Frisk is doing their best, Frisk is female, I'll add more tags later, Lots of Secrets, Slow Burn, Tags Are Hard, g!papyrus is kinda terrible, humans are slaves, probably, rebellious Frisk, soulmates exist, stay determined
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-18
Updated: 2019-06-25
Packaged: 2019-09-22 09:18:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 37,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17057048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonstarMax/pseuds/MoonstarMax
Summary: Long ago two races ruled over the earth: humans and monsters. One day war broke out between the two. The humans had nearly won but a mysterious man appeared, giving the monsters the power to defeat the humans, thus the war turned. After a long battle the monsters were declared the victor. From that day humans were subjected and forced to serve under monsters. New Kingdom became a capital state in this new regime. This is also where many human children are raised and trained to one day be sold to a monster. There were monsters who opposed this ruling, including the king’s own wife and so they left to make a new home in the mountains and under the earth.





	1. Sold

I wasn’t allowed to dress myself this morning. Today, my teacher explained to me, was a special day. The same speech I had heard for three years. I was going to the auction. Every year my school would “graduate” us into our servitude with the highest bidder. I had managed to avoid getting sold for three years. I dressed in my worst baggiest dresses, I got into fights I had no intention of fighting back in to make sure I looked bad, anything to push back the inevitable for as long I could. I wasn’t the only one who tried to do that of course, but they never wanted to take it as far as I did. So here I am, my teacher had one set of hands brushing my freshly trimmed long hair while the other set were deciding if I would look better in blue or green.

“Are you even listening Frisk?” she scolded and smacked the top of my head with the brush. 

I winced. “Yes ma’am.” I said obediently as to not get hit again.

“Very good. Now…” she set the brush down and held up two sweaters to my torso. “Blue, I think will look better. If anything it will catch the eye I’m sure.” she tossed the sweater to me and headed for the door. “Five minutes and be outside the door with your classmates.” the door opened and shut leaving me alone. 

I looked at the sweater for a moment. It was soft and would actually fit me as opposed to the rest of my clothes. With a sigh I slip it on over my tank top and look to the rest of the clothes she had set out. A pair of jean shorts with leggings and brown boots to finish the look. No doubt the teacher was only thinking about me getting sold today with little regard to the winter weather outside. After I finished getting dressed i looked at myself in the mirror. It’s me. 

My eyes then find the scissors the teacher left in here and feel the corners of my mouth move into a smirk. Without hesitation I took them and cut my hair to just above my shoulders. There were some chunks that were longer or shorter than that. Quite a statement. Then I looked down at my leggings. I cut a few holes up and down my leggings just to make sure everyone knew that I was determined to stay.

Feeling a small victory I left the room where the rest of my classmates were waiting outside their rooms. A few faces looked up at me in horror. Everyone was dressed prim and proper, ready to be sent to a new home, all of them resigned to whatever fate awaited them.

The teacher walked back down the hall, at first not noticing my statement when suddenly they turned around. “Frisk, you have got to be kidding me.” she narrowed her eyes and I thought for sure she was going to yell at me. The bell tolled, signalling us to move to the auction. Saved. For now. Instead teacher let out a frustrated breath and lined all of us to start heading over. I was towards the back of the line.  
Promptly we arrived to the auction house. It was a very full room from what we could all hear from behind the curtains. Nerves started getting to me when I heard the announcer begin the event. Mettaton… just like every year. He was probably part of the reason that this was televised every year.

I looked around and see that teacher is nowhere in sight. So i decide to take a peek through the crack in the curtain. I was positioned at the corner of the stage right now so I was sure I wouldn’t get caught. There were a lot of monsters of all shapes and sizes. This didn’t really calm my nerves. In the front row I found two regulars to these auctions. Two skeletons. I’ve never seen them buy anyone, so I wondered if they were just here for the show.

One was very tall and wore a crazy fancy military looking uniform, it got fancier every year. The other generally looked on the verge of exhaustion he had this leather jacket with fluff on the ends of the hood and an unlit cigarette hanging between his teeth. I've never seen him awake during a show. The peculiar thing about the two of them wasn’t so much that they were skeletons but that their hands… had holes going straight through them and they had the same scars on their face.

The exhausted one looked up to, what I supposed was, his brother who was saying something somewhat excitedly. To which he shrugged and said something before looking away. Towards me. We locked eyes for a moment. The second I saw a smile grow on his face I shut the curtain. My heart started pounding in my chest. I had a feeling in my soul about him and it wasn't comfortable.

I looked around backstage again. Teacher’s gaze was back on me. Nowhere to run now. So I stood still, not sure what my next move was going to be. But it was getting close to me. The line was ending. I didn’t have much time to think and my heartbeat thundering in my ears didn’t help. The person in front of me was sent out as the curtain opened for them to go out i saw him again and again, we locked eyes. 

The curtain closed and I immediately fled. I ran the other way towards the exit. I was apprehended by one of teacher’s arms and i kicked and struggled until security had clicked a collar on me. Another one held the chain and started dragging me towards the stage. I heard Mettaton speaking.

“Frisk is an eighteen year old female who…” a robotic laugh, “Is a little extra feisty this year. Will this be her year to gets a home?”

One last tug from the chain and i ended up stumbling into the spotlight before falling to my knees. I didn’t bother getting up. Instead I looked up to the crowd as though daring anyone place a bid.  
Silence. 

Mettaton went on the describe some of my features as my eyes just scanned the room. Ultimately I found myself eye to eye with that skeleton again. He no longer looked exhausted or disinterested, now he was leaned forward, elbows on his knees and skull resting on his steepled hands. He was studying me. I held my gaze at him. It was another moment before his grin widened and he held up a bidding card.

I blink. For some reason I just didn’t expect it. I huff and tug at the chain again. The security guard tugs back and pulls me back down. The bidding didn’t last long. 

“SOLD! Congratulations Sans. Hope you can handle it.” Mettaton waves goodbye to me as i am being dragged off stage. 

I grit my teeth and tug a bit more before i finally stumble down the stairs. I would have fallen back on my face if it hadn’t been for a force that stopped me from falling all the way. I looked down to see my chest glowing a strange blue before looking at the skeletons. The tall one looking rather worried and the other one… the one i had to call my owner, Sans, now looked down at me with one of his eyes glowing blue. He was using magic. Once i gathered my footing again his eye stopped glowing and my chest stopped as well. The chain was handed to him and he took it along with a set of paper, probably my deed.

The two skeletons left the auditorium with me in tow. As soon as we were in the lobby the tall one turned to Sans. “Are you sure about this? This one seems a little… _feral._ ”

“Heh, you worry too much Papyrus. Why don’t you go back in and enjoy the rest of the show. I’ll go a _head_.” he poked at his skull.

Papyrus did not look impressed. “Fine. At least I’ll get away from your ridiculous puns for a few minutes.” he eyed me suspiciously before heading back through the door. 

I watched him leave before looking back at Sans, that same grin on his face. “Where are my manners? The names Sans, Sans the skeleton. What’s your name, sweetheart?”

“Frisk.” I said through grit teeth.

Another moment of him studying me. “If I take the collar off of you, are you going to bolt?”

Once again, he surprised me. I tried to judge the sincerity of that. I look around the room, trying to plan my next move. Lie. “No.”

He stared at me for a moment before he reached out and unlocked the collar. I took a moment to feel my neck then I look up at him again. He was taller than me but could he outrun me? Immediately I sprint for the door. 

I heard a laugh before I felt myself stop. Not willingly, of course. I looked back at Sans to see his eye glowing again. 

“Aren’t you a determined little thing?” he chuckled and using his magic he pulled me back to him. 

I’m silent as I’m dragged back to his side and the collar is once again clicked around my neck. I huff and look to the floor.

“Ya know, sweetheart, I really wanna know.” he leaned down to meet my eyes. “Where were you going to go if you had actually escaped?”

I thought a moment. I hadn’t thought that far ahead, so I stayed quiet.

“Yeah just as I thought. It’s okay though…” he started walking and I didn’t bother fighting back this time. “Saves me the trouble of tracking you down.” he opened the door and a rush of cold air swept in. I gasped and shivered. It was snowing outside and there was a breeze. The holes in my leggings now seemed like a horrible idea. As soon as we left the building Sans lit the cigarette and took a drag off of it. The smoke was coming out of his mouth and eye sockets. He looked back at me shivering and laughed again. “Did I put a _tear_ in your plans, sweetheart?” 

The puns were so bad. “I-I-I will h-have another plan.” I spoke through chattering teeth.

“I’m sure you will. Hope those don’t…” he eyed my leggings again. “ _Get ripped away from you._ ” he laughed to himself.

Was this going to be my life now?

After that we walked in silence across town and stopped at a rather large home just on the edge of the city. The yard alone could take up the entire school campus, the house was huge, did they expect me to take care of this place? Sans typed in a code for the gate and it swung open slowly. I just kept staring at the place as we walked down the long driveway. Halfway there I felt my stomach churn as I remembered what was happening and I remembered that I wanted out. I started fiddling with the collar there were buttons but they didn’t seem to do anything.

Sans noticed me and sighed. “This again, sweetheart?” 

I was tugging at the chains again when we made it to the door. The skeleton didn’t seem to be bothered by the tugging, in fact no matter how hard i tugged it didn’t seem i was even moving him at all.  
The grin widened and he yanked me over to him. I stumbled and nearly ran into the door. He leaned over and clicked the collar off and opened the door. “You can come inside with me and get warm or… you can stay out here and freeze while you attempt to escape. What’s it gonna be?”

My first instinct was to escape but I was so cold. I silently walked in.

He watched me step in before following me, I heard the distinct sound of a lock click into place once the door shut.

“Welcome to your new home.” he takes off his jacket and hangs it on the coat rack.

The whole place is so nice looking. There’s more room in here than i knew what to do with. This looked like a living room. No, more like a theater. I’ve never been to one but i’ve read about them. There were a few fancy couches sitting around a big flat screen that hung on the wall. And on the other side of the room was a dining area. Not yet set up for a meal so there was nothing on the table. On every other wall there was at least one still life painting, all of them about the same thing. It was spaghetti. 

There was a hallway across the room and i started walking toward it.

“Hey… shoes off. Paps will throw a fit if he sees your shoes anywhere else.” Sans warns and finishes taking off his black boots and put on a pair of slippers. I went back to the door and took them off. I could feel his eyes on me the whole time. It was unsettling to say the least. Then i started towards the hallway. There wasn’t much to see. The doors led to either a guest bedroom or a closet, then i found the kitchen. Another elaborate area that had all of the latest equipment for cooking. Though it all looked unused. 

“You know how to cook?” the skeleton leaned on the counter.

I nodded. It was one of the things they taught us in school. We all knew most of us would end up cooking for our owners so it was essential that we knew at least a few recipes. I looked around the area thoroughly. Only stopping to look at the shiny knife set on on the counter by the stove. I took out the chefs knife and poked at the edge to test its sharpness. The tip of my finger started bleeding a little. So... very sharp. I put it back.

I went back down the hallway, passed the living room and down to the other side of the hall. Everything was the same but when I reached the door at the end of the hallway Sans stepped in front of me and stood in front of it.

“This room is strictly off limits. So don’t even think about going in.” his voice, once laid back, now stern and cold. 

I nod quickly.

“I want to hear you say it.” his voice made me shiver like the temperature in the house just dropped.

“I-I won’t go open that door.” I took a step back from him.

“Good.” he waved his hand towards the stairs, once again laid back.

Cautiously I went to the stairs, skirting along the wall and the railing trying to keep my distance. Reaching the top of the stairs I found that it led to a sitting room. The curtains to the windows were wide open showing a view of the yard and in the distance I could see the mountains. In one of the corners I found an easel and other things used for painting. In the other corner there was a piano. The walls were lined with several tall bookshelves.

“You got any artistic talents?” he asked, sitting down in one of the chairs lazily. 

I looked back at him, confused. “The school never taught us anything like that. They said it was unnecessary.”

“And did that stop you?” I feel like this was a loaded question, like somehow he would use it against me. 

Lie. “I… guess.”

He nodded, not seeming to be quite satisfied with the answer. I turned around again and found the last hallway at the end of the room. Following it i found fewer doors, i supposed because they led to bigger rooms. One of the bedroom doors had another small painting of spaghetti on it.

“That’s Papyrus’s room.”

I decided not to open it, in case the other skeleton didn’t want me entering this room either.

The door next to it was slightly cracked already.

“That’s my room.” when Sans says that I feel confused. I figured the forbidden door was supposed to be his room which spiked my curiosity.

“What’s in the other room if this is your bedroom?” the question came out before I had a moment to think about how dumb I sounded.

He chuckled. “A whole lot of nonya.” he said flatly.

“Nonya?” i asked looking up at him.

“None ya business sweetheart.” he looked down at me mockingly.

I huff, now feeling stupid I explore the rest of the hallway before stopping at the end of the hall. “So… where am I supposed to sleep?” I ask quietly.  
Without a word he points up and I find the door to the attic on the ceiling. I had to jump to be able to reach the rope that pulled it down. A wooden ladder unfolded so I could easily climb up.  
The attic was full of boxes and everything seemed to have cobwebs. But beside the one window in the room was a small bed. There was a trunk at the end of that bed. Just if to the side I could see a door that led to a bathroom. It wasn’t much, but at least I had it.

And that filled me with determination.


	2. A Warning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This place is strange and new. And just a bit terrifying.

From my room I could hear the front door open and close. 

“SANS? HUMAN?” the distinct voice of the other skeleton called from down stairs. 

“Come on sweetheart. It’s time to go meet my brother.” Sans gestured for me to follow him.

I didn’t want to leave. I found a little space of my own, all I wanted to do was curl up under the blanket and scream into my pillow, maybe pretend I wasn’t here. I took a deep breath and left the attic to follow Sans down into the living room and once again saw the taller of the brothers. The military one. Papyrus. 

He didn’t hesitate to approach me and lean down to look me up and down. I jumped at his sudden closeness. “Hmph… she’s so small.” he critiqued.

Small? Does he even realize how tall he is?

“What is it that you will be doing here human?” he straightened his back again.

I frowned and kept my head down. “Well… I can cook and clean…” 

Sans seemed to be blatantly ignoring this conversation as he had already turned on the TV and was switching between channels. 

“EXCELLENT!” Papyrus cried. “I’m sure you’ve seen the clutter around this place. Sans’s room could absolutely use the cleaning.” he nodded. “I expect everything to be up to my high standards.” 

I blinked. I hadn’t seen anything that wasn’t clean all through this house. Had I missed something? I looked over to Sans and just by his feet I saw three socks laying on the floor. Was that it? 

“Now human…” Papyrus pat the top of my head. “I do believe it is dinner time. Go ahead and make something for us.”

I huffed before going off to the kitchen to start something. At least I had a moment to myself. After a few deep breaths I started making dinner. So much had happened already today and it was making my head spin. I looked out the window as I was chopping some vegetables. It was still snowing. That’s when I noticed the iron fence that went around the yard. If I squeezed I might could fit between the bars. I still had no idea where I would go. It didn’t matter too much to me where I went. All I knew was that I didn't want to be a slave.

I stirred the soup and tried just a small spoonful. It was perfect. I poured out three bowls. Two for the skeletons and a bowl for me for later. I took the bowls to the dining room table and set them at the two chairs on opposite sides. The two stood upon smelling the food come into the room. I set up the silverware and a couple of drinks for them by the bowls and when they sat down I stood off to the side. Just like I was taught. If I stay on their good side then it might make it easier to escape later.

Sans immediately went to the kitchen and came back with a bottle of tabasco sauce. I wondered what could have possibly made him want to put that in his soup but I decided that if he wanted to ruin perfectly good soup that was his own fault. Then I saw him open the top and start drinking. I felt my face go white. Did he just..? 

He caught me staring and laughed. “Want some sweetheart?”

I shook my head. What was this guy? 

Papyrus on the other hand was enjoying the soup as it was. I just tried not to focus too much on Sans and instead focused on my feet unless i was called upon to do something. Once dinner was over the tall skeleton looked to me. “The soup was adequate.” he stood and started for the hallway. “I am going to the sitting room. I expect the dishes to be done before you go to bed human.” 

I picked up the bowls and went back to the kitchen. I drank my soup as I worked on cleaning. 

“Hey sweetheart.” Sans's voice came from right behind me.

I jumped and dropped the bowl I was drying. It fell straight to the floor and shattered. 

“Whoops…” Sans chuckled.

I dared not move. Not only was I walking around with bare feet but I just made the classic mistake. One that could get me in terrible trouble. 

I looked up at Sans. “I’m sorry…” I breathed out.

He shrugged. “I don’t care. My brother might.”

I heard footsteps coming and frantically looked around for a broom. I saw one in the corner and jumped over the glass to get to it.

“What was that?!” Papyrus stomped into the kitchen.

I froze again. “I-I…”

“Human did you break that?” he glared at me and then the mess on the floor.

I just nodded and braced for something, anything to happen. At the school things like this would earn us a slap on the back of the head, would it be the same here or will it be worse?

“Well do hurry up and clean it!” Papyrus scolded. 

I rushed to the glass and started sweeping. “I’ll get it cleaned. Sorry. I didn’t mean to drop it.”

“See to it that it doesn’t happen again! This will be your only warning!” he threatened before walking away. “Next time I'll have you beaten!”

I tensed at the words before glaring at Sans, the real reason that this happened.

He just watched me silently.

“Was there something you wanted?” I asked indignantly as I swept up the last of the glass and threw it away.

“Just came to see how you were doing.”

 _I’m horrible. I was sold today. I no longer have any freedom over my life and I was sold to two skeletons who terrify me. How the hell do you think I'm doing?_ I wanted to scream but instead I settled for, “I’m fine.”

“Did you get any glass in your feet?” He asked, a but if concern in his voice.

I sat on the floor and examined my feet. “No, it looks like I managed to avoid getting cut.”

“Good.” He relaxed a little.

I stood and stared at him a moment, wondering why he cared at all. After concluding that it probably has to do with not wanting blood on the floor I continued doing the dishes. Sans didn't leave. He stayed the whole time I cleaned. It was one thing being a rat in a cage, now I felt like I was being studied too.

Once I finished putting away the dishes and turned to him. “Is there anything else you would like me to do tonight?” I asked through grit teeth, trying very hard to hold back my defiance. I just need to bide my time a little longer.

He looked at me thoughtfully. “Nah… go to bed sweetheart. Papyrus is probably going to expect to see you awake in the morning.”

I walked past him and up the stairs. I didn’t see the other skeleton as I passed the sitting room but I did see an unfinished painting on the canvas. I stopped before I went into the hallway. I looked over the books on the shelves. Mostly it looked like military or science books. How boring.

I went to my attic and opened the trunk. There were a few sets of clothes in there. No pajamas though. I sighed and stripped off my shorts and leggings as well as my sweater. Turning off the light and laying down was the best feeling in the world. I hugged my pillow to my chest and let sleep overtake me.

My alarm blared and i slammed it off. My head was still fuzzy so taking in my surroundings felt odd. I wasn’t in a dorm room. I had to remind myself that the events of yesterday were not a nightmare. I was here. I felt a small surge of determination as i sat up and put on a new set of clothes. A pair of jeans that were a bit too big for me and a new purple sweater. I made my way downstairs to see the skeletons sitting in the living room. Papyrus was reading the newspaper and Sans was reading one of the science books. It was a quiet morning. I made scrambled eggs and toast for the two of them. They gladly accepted it. I made sure not to watch Sans guzzle the tabasco this time but I did make sure it was already sitting by his plate.

The morning brought a new set of thoughts. A new plan. Now that I’ve had a moment to think, a plan to leave starts to form. It helps me get through the day. I do laundry, I cook, I clean the little bits of clutter, and for the most part I’m left alone. Papyrus leaves early in the morning for some sort of training and Sans goes into that forbidden room, he gives me a suspicious look before slipping through the door. I decided not to leave at that point. I would get caught too quick. Sans is obviously on guard.

I wait until the night. When I’m done with the dishes I check upstairs. Papyrus looks like he's gone to bed and I see Sans sleeping on one of the couches with that same book still open in his lap. It's now or never. I practically tiptoe to the front door, put on my boots, and open it. The cold is harsh as it flows into the room.

I look back one more time to make sure im not followed and go out. The snow has made it up to my knees now. So I have to trudge through it to get to the fence. I'm already shivering hard by the time I make it.

Outside the fence I see the city. Its pretty much empty by now. At this hour most everything is closed, not to mention it's too cold to want to be anywhere but inside. I reach out and grab the fence to start climbing through. 

My body stiffens and I feel the electricity move through my veins. I’m able to let go of the bar and fall back. I’m shaking now, not just because of the cold. I don't know the code to the gate, the fence is electrified. I am trapped here. Damn it all. I should have known. I sit in the snow for a few minutes trying desperately not to let despair take over me. I don't even let myself cry, I'm too frustrated. Slowly I rise and start my way back to the house. I look up to see Sans leaning against the door with a cigarette in his teeth. Watching me.

I was in so much trouble right now and I felt it.

“Not a smart move eh, sweetheart?” he sounds sympathetic but I don’t know if I believe it.

My body hurt. He wasn’t wrong. I just stood in front of him with my head down.

“Determination sure can be a dangerous thing. Makes you do stupid stuff like that.” he took a drag from the cigarette. 

I sigh. “Just punish me already…” I say, my voice deflated.

He laughs. “You _want_ to be punished?”

“Of course not! I just know I have it coming now so just get it over with.” I cross my arms, I look up at him, daring him to do something. 

“You’re a weird girl. Ain’t I supposed to be the one giving you orders?” he takes the cigarette out of his mouth and lightly taps on it so the extra ash falls off. “I’ll let this be a learning experience. You’ve learned today that when you try to leave…. Bad things happen.” His last words sounded like a warning, the tone was colder than the snow somehow. Somehow, his threats sounded worse than Papyrus's. 

Finally he finished the cigarette and opened the door. 

I walked in wordlessly. Looking back I saw him at the corner of my eye. He was close behind me. 

“Scoot sweetheart. I’m gonna make sure you make it to your room.” I could still smell the smoke on him.

I went back to my room with Sans closely following me. He even followed me into the attic. “What? Do you need to sleep in my bed too?” I snapped at him.

He grinned. “Is that an offer?”

I felt my cheeks heat up. “Can you please get out now? I want to sleep in peace.”

“Alright fine fine…” he turned around. “I’ll be coming to get you in the morning.”

“I can wake myself up.” I protested.

“Yeah… you can also try to take off again while I’m napping.” he turned his head and smirked. “Can’t have you taking off again can I?”

I huffed as he walked down the steps and closed the door. Leaving me to my thoughts once again.

Falling into my bed, once again everything was quiet. My plan had failed, I was too short sighted. I should have guessed that it wouldn't be so easy. Today may have been a "learning experience" but I wouldn't let them get the best of me like that again. Next time, I would have a better plan. I was filled with determination.


	3. Picking a Confusing Fight

I woke up to a knocking on my floor door. “You decent?” I heard Sans call up to me.

Panicked, I jumped up and grabbed a black skirt from the trunk, putting on the leggings, and I was just slipping on a red shirt when the door opened and I heard footsteps. 

I turned and saw the skeleton standing there with an unlit cigarette in his mouth. He was very obviously eyeing me up and down. My cheeks started to heat up. Had he seen anything? Did it matter? He was a skeleton after all. 

“Red looks very nice on you sweetheart.” he smirked.

Realizing I was accidentally matching him with his red turtleneck and black jeans I look away and huff. “What is it that you want?”

“It’s breakfast time.” he held his gaze on me. “That means it's time for you to _serve us_ again.”

I could hear it in his voice that he was trying to antagonize me. I clenched my fist.

“Get to it.” he noticed the fist, satisfied that he had thoroughly riled me up.

There was a moment of hesitation before I stomped past him and went downstairs to start breakfast.

If there was anything that schoolyard bullies taught me, it was to pick your battles.

That didn’t stop me from only making toast for breakfast. Papyrus seemed to be the only one who was fine with it. Saying it was good to start the day off light. 

After Papyrus left Sans turned to me. “So I decided that today you’ll go clean my room.”

Was I his mother now?

“What’s that look for?” he narrowed his eyes. “You’re acting like you aren’t my maid.”

“Is that why you bought me?” I crossed my arms

He chuckled. “Does it matter why? I could tell you to be a chicken and you’ll have to start cluckin’ like one.” he stepped closer now only inches away. He towered over me. “You’re a human. I’m a monster. I bought you. That means you belong to me. Have I spelled it out good enough?”

I didn’t break eye contact. It didn’t matter if he was a monster or not. He was just trying to intimidate me and I don't take kindly to that.

There was a moment of tense silence before he grinned again. “I could tell you to do _other things_.” he said suggestively.

I blinked and stepped away from him feeling my face heat up again. “Only in your dreams.” I scoffed and turned to finally go start cleaning.

I opened the door to his room and was met with a disaster area. The pile of clothes in one corner, the stacks and stacks of books along the side of the bed, plates and bowls that looked like they’ve been there since the prehistoric era, papers cluttered in a few different piles, there was a few different sections of the wall that had more papers pinned to a cork board, a white board with a few symbols on it that I didn’t recognize. I didn’t know where to start.

I sighed and chose to start with the dishes. At least I could quickly put them in the dishwasher. 

When I got back he was laying in his unmade bed with a book. Of course he was going to be in here. I got to work on the rest of the room. Within an hour I had the laundry out of the room and I managed to organize the books on a bookshelf I had found under the laundry. There were a few book titles that caught my attention.

_Human History._

_The Physics of the Soul_

_Time Relativity_

This title caught my attention the most was: _Determination: A Human and Monster Concept._

I glanced back to Sans only a moment to see that he had fallen asleep, his book was laying on his chest. He looked positively peaceful like this, it was almost cute. I shook my head, getting out of that thought. Sans was still an annoying ass.

I turned back to the book and opened it. A lot of what I read went over my head, I was taught to read but it was all basic stuff. I shut it and looked up to the cork board curiously. Quietly I stepped over and looked at it. From what I understood of the first chapter of the book and these messy notes that I assume are from Sans, humans had a unique property about them that monsters called determination. I remember him mentioning it the night I tried to escape. He said it was dangerous. What a curious thing to say.

“And just what do you think you’re doing?” Sans’ voice made me start. I turned back to see he had somehow silently gotten out of his bed and was right behind me. I yelped and jumped away from him, my back hitting the wall.

“I was…” I thought a moment. “G-Going to organize all the papers!” 

“Liar.” he put his hands in his pockets and glared at me. 

I gathered myself. “You never told me not to look at them!” I argued. “What are you doing anyway? Studying me?”

He rolled his eyes. “What I do is not your business.”

“It's my business if you're studying _me_!” I threw back at him. “Is that why you bought me?”

Sans sighed, obviously frustrated. “Fine, I'll admit I find you fascinating. You've been a hell of a determination case study, if anything.”

I mocked a laugh. “Hah you want to study determination so bad?” I tap my chest. “I got plenty of it! Are you satisfied with your purchase?” 

What was I doing? My entire being knew that fighting him could get me in trouble. But somewhere in my soul I had chosen my fight. My fight was with him. My owner. Sans. 

“So good of you to give me permission.” He chuckled darkly and leaned on the wall with one hand by my face, effectively blocking my exit. “Not that I really needed it.” I felt my body go rigid. He was using magic. He held out his other hand and waved a finger to motion me to come closer. But he wasn't telling my body to move. My chest glowed blue again and I felt him trying to take my soul out of my body.  
I heard rumors in school about some powerful monsters being able to do this but I never once thought it was true. My throat felt like it was going to close up. I gripped my shirt and pressed down on my chest to keep my soul where it belonged. That stopped nothing. 

I saw it. My soul, a heart shape, floating in his palm locked away behind his bone fingers. It was bright red, several different shades of the color swirled inside of it like a fire. I felt dizzy suddenly. Like I hadn't eaten or slept in a week. My body was shaking but I reached out to grab it. I needed to protect it. 

Sans kept it just out of my reach. “You see that? That fire? That's the flow of determination.” His tone was like that of a teacher to a student. “You for some reason have a lot of it. And you know what that means?” He lifted my chin to make me look at him eye to eye socket. “It means you're a danger to yourself.”

“Give… It… back…” I breathed. 

“You don't get it do you?” His tone was stern. “I'm only doing it for your own good. You have to listen to me.”

I reached up to my soul that he was holding above his head now. I grabbed onto his shoulders and tried to jump or climb to it but I had no energy so it looked like I was just leaning on him and holding on for dear life. Which wasn’t untrue, if I let go I probably would have collapsed. “Please… it hurts.” The hollow feeling I had felt like it could eat up my insides.

His gaze softens suddenly and he curses. “I'm sorry sweetheart.” He lets go of my soul and it drifts back into me. 

All at once I felt like I could breathe again. I gasped and coughed. It didn't feel like my energy returned again but at least I felt whole.

“That was dumb…” Sans wrapped an arm around me and helped me walk to the sitting room where he placed me on a couch. “You stay here, I'll get you something to eat. That should help you feel better.”  
With that he left, for just a moment it looked like he was gripping his chest. I stared at the ceiling when he left. There were a lot of emotions I was feeling. I wasn’t quite angry, not yet afraid, maybe on the edge of relief. Mostly I felt confused.

I heard him return. He held a plate with a sandwich on it and his face seemed to reflect my emotions. Confused and unsure. He sat next to me and handed me the plate.

I took it and started eating.

“I’m sorry about that.” he apologized again. “Forcing your soul out like that was probably real painful. I shouldn’t have done that.”

I didn’t answer immediately. The apology felt sincere but I didn’t expect it. I was fighting him, I was bound to get some sort of punishment for this at some point. 

“I don’t understand.” I finally say. “None of this makes any sense.”

He puts a hand on the top of my head. “You don’t have to understand it. Just try and put it out of your head.” he stood again and started walking away. “Take the rest of the day off.” and he was gone.

I finished the sandwich but I didn’t move yet. My eyes went over the bookshelf, finding books that could possibly help me understand what was going on. My eyes landed on A History of Humans and Monsters. I took the book off the shelf. Then I went to the art desk to take out a few pages from an empty sketchbook as well as a pencil. I sneaked these items to my room where I started reading in peace.

I knew I had a challenge ahead of me, but I had to figure out what was going on. I read for a couple of hours but ultimately ended up falling asleep with my head on a book. When I came to the clock said it was 5:42pm. 

I know that Sans said I should take the day off but I was hungry again. If I'm going to the kitchen I would probably be asked to cook anyway.

I started to go downstairs and heard the familiar voices of the two brothers talking. I quieted my steps more and listened.

“I’m dealing with it bro.” Sans said nonchalantly.

“Dealing with it? She’s already tried to run twice and she was fighting you today.” I heard a click and the sound of the TV was gone. “Then you let her have the day off? It sounds like you’re coddling her.”

There was silence.

“You know what has to be done.” Papyrus sounded like he was trying to comfort Sans.

“No.” that cold voice echoed through the halls. “She is mine. I will take care of it.”

A sigh.

They were talking about me, obviously. What has to be done? What was Papyrus talking about? Why was Sans defending me?

There was another long tense silence.

“Sans…” a worried Papyrus spoke.

“What?” Sans sounded neutral.

“You don’t think that…”

There was a knock at the door.

“Pizza’s here!” Sans sounded more relaxed now, blatantly ignoring Papyrus's concerns now.

I waited a few more moments before walking past the living room to get to the kitchen.

“Hey!” I heard Sans call out. “Get back here!”

I flinched but turned and went to the living room, I didn't look up at the brothers, instead stared down at my feet. I didn't need to see Papyrus to feel the glare he was giving me.

“Come get some pizza.” Sans offered, making the brother's glare intensify. 

“You better be grateful human.” the taller skeleton crossed his arms. “Had your deed been in my hand I would have you flogged!” 

I cringed. “I can just-”

“Yeah well it’s not.” Sans threw back to Papyrus. “Have some pizza.” that didn’t sound like a suggestion. It did smell really good though.

I hesitated before grabbing a piece of pizza. It was my first time eating this. I was in love at first bite. For just a few moments, the skeletons didn’t matter, my life didn’t matter, because it was all about pizza. It was a beautiful moment in my life.

My moment of bliss was interrupted by Papyrus yelling. “If this behavior continues in either one of you, I will have to tell him.” I had no idea what this meant but it made Sans pause.

Nothing else was said after that.

I made my way back upstairs to my room and continued my reading. The history book taught me that monsters were magical beings but humans once had the ability to use magic too. There were several different types of magic and they all sounded amazing. I've never heard of a human mage though, most of them must have gotten wiped out during the war. Just the thought of being able to use magic, though, filled me with determination.


	4. Dinner Party

Over the next few weeks Papyrus had gotten tougher on me. Everything I cleaned was never quite right, my cooking was no longer adequate, my very presence in the room had apparently left a bad taste in his mouth. I tried not to cross paths him when I could help it as to avoid getting yelled at. Sans didn’t change much, but he kept a very close eye on me. I was no longer sure if that was because he didn’t want me to escape or if he was studying me. Either way I found the attention made me nervous. Though I’ll admit that our little arguments were kind of fun sometimes. They generally seemed to be about nothing at all, just an excuse to banter. It took my mind off of things, made it all seem a little less serious.

My one act of rebellion that I was getting more confident in was my reading. It was coming along slowly since I had to figure what so many of the words meant and because I only had a couple of hours to read before I fell asleep at night. I had learned about the history of humans and monsters, there had been a few little wars in the past but the big war that changed the world was written oddly. It didn’t talk as much about it as the other wars. Even though it lasted a long time it wrote about it like it only lasted a day. Humans lost, monsters won all thanks to the king, that was all there was to it apparently. Very odd indeed.

I moved on to a new book. Magic Basics. Even if I couldn’t learn magic, maybe if I learned how the monsters used it I could know what to expect. And if I could learn magic... That would probably help too. As far as I'm concerned though, that's a dream that will not come true. Some dreams are just too good.

I woke up this morning to Sans once again coming to retrieve me. He no longer barged into my room as I put on clothes instead waited for me to call back to him or stomp on the floor. Today when I walked down he smelled like he had already had a cigarette. Must be a stressful morning. When I made it to the kitchen I figured out why. 

“Human, I want everything to be cleaned to perfection today!” Papyrus called to me from the living room. “Undyne, captain of the royal guard is coming over tonight for dinner!” 

I had heard rumors about her from school. They said that she was ruthless and a terror to be around. You might as well beat yourself up if she decides she doesn’t like you, just to get straight to the point. I had to take a breath to keep myself composed. I think I knew why Sans had that cigarette now.

After breakfast I had made sure that the kitchen was practically sparkling. I was about to get to start trying to make the rest of the house look like that when Sans waved me over to him. 

“Paps wants a certain dish for dinner tonight so we’re going out to get the ingredients.” he was putting on his boots, so I followed suit. I was at least wearing normal pants today so maybe i won’t freeze as much. Papyrus gave Sans the list before we exited the house. 

It wasn't as cold today and the sun was shining. Before we left the porch Sans gave me a warning while lighting a cigarette. This was the first time that I realized that he wasn't using a lighter, instead a spark from the end of his thumb made a little fire on the end of his finger tip. “If you leave my side at any point you ain't gonna get that collar off for a week.” He took it out of his pocket to show me before slipping it back in. 

I nodded. I hadn't planned on trying today. The last thing I wanted was for both of the skeleton brothers and Undyne to come after me when I had nowhere to hide.

So we walked into town side by side and went to the store. Papyrus wanted to have all homemade spaghetti tonight. I only vaguely knew how to do it but there was a cookbook in the kitchen somewhere that I've used once or twice. It should have something in it. I felt confident enough that I could put Papyrus's spaghetti paintings to shame with the real deal.

We were in the produce section picking up tomatoes. Sans had examined one and deemed it unworthy. He set it down but it rolled off the stack. 

I attempted to catch it but my hand just missed it. Or it would have had my hand didn't glow a very faint red. The tomato stopped mid air and floated back to my hand. 

A sense of pride filled me knowing the that reading that book the past couple weeks hadn’t been for nothing until I looked up to Sans. He, on the other hand looked horrified. His head swivelled back and forth to make sure no one was looking. Thankfully no one was. He grabbed the tomato from my hand and tossed it back in the pile before grabbing my wrist and forcing me down an empty isle. 

“What the hell was that?” He growled. 

“I don't know… I was just-”

“Don't lie to me Frisk.” His hand tightened. “You've been learning magic? You really are just a complete idiot. You really want to-” he stopped himself and took a breath. “Never ever do that again. Unless I say otherwise.”

“Why? I wasn't doing anything harmful.” I quietly argued. 

“Yeah, sweetheart, you were.” He rubbed the part of his skull that would be his temples. “Remember when I said you were a danger to yourself? This is a perfect example of you being that.” I wanted to ask about it more but he let me go and turned to look at the list. He glanced at me once more. “Look… I'll try to explain it more later, as long as tonight goes well.”

I wasn't satisfied with that answer but it was the best I was going to get right now. We hurried to get the rest of the items on the list and left. The entire way home Sans looked like he had something stressful on his mind. It was probably me. I didn't want to stress him out, I hadn't expected that to happen either. 

There was a small pang of guilt in my chest. I don't really know why, I was still ready to fight him in a second but also I didn't like seeing this distressed Sans.

“I'm sorry.” I said out loud.

He blinked, suddenly ripped away from whatever was going on in his head. “Since when are you ever sorry?”

I bit my lip. “You just… look stressed, okay? I'm trying to be nice.”

He chuckled and gave me a look that I don't think he's ever made before. An emotion I didn't really recognize. “Sure sweetheart, apology accepted.”

Upon arriving home I carried the groceries into the kitchen and quickly put them away. I had a little bit of time before starting dinner to quickly clean the house. 

As soon as I finished that I got to work on making dinner. Making the noodles had been easy enough but very messy. The sauce was much more tricky. I had to mix the right amount of spices with it. I wasn’t very satisfied until I heard the door open and a new voice enter. It had to be Undyne. It was last minute but I felt like I did it. I sighed with relief and silently went into the dining room area to set up the table. Setting a new seat and making it look as good as possible before bringing out the food.

That’s when I caught my first look at Undyne. She was taller than Sans but not quite up to Papyrus’s height. She wore a leather coat over her white t-shirt and had her bright red hair in a ponytail on the top of her head. An eyepatch covered her right eye so only one eye found me and gave me a toothy grin.

“So this is the loser you bought, eh Sans?” her voice as loud and mocking as she approached me. I stiffened, trying not to look nervous.

“Her name is Frisk.” Sans said casually.

“Yes and she is unruly!” Papyrus eyed me then Sans distastefully.

“An unruly human eh?” Undyne laughed. “That’s hilarious! I remember seeing you on stage for a couple of years. You were the one always covered in bruises!” 

She recognized me? Some part of me felt a surge of pride. “I would have had more this year but they forced me into quarantine for a few days. And made me look decent.” 

Her eyebrows rose. “Feisty!” she turned to Sans. “Is that why you like her?”

Sans blinked. “Something like that.” he said uncomfortably and moved to the table. “Come on, the food is gonna get cold."

“Finally you start talking sense brother!” Papyrus went to his seat.

There was a slight lull in the conversation as everyone ate. I took that as a compliment. But soon enough there was plenty of laughing and conversation at the table. There was a lot of talking about fighting, teasing Sans for buying me, stuff like that. I couldn’t help but blush a little. There was talk about the two of us being soul mates. They made it sound like marriage or something and it made me feel really weird.

Papyrus was near violently opposed to the idea. Undyne thought it was hilarious up until Sans brought up an internet friendship she was having.

“So how is… what’s her name again?” Sans winked. “M3wQis_QT?”

Undyne scowled at him. “She is doing just great. Not that its your business, nerd!”

The skeleton chuckled. “Of course it's not."

Papyrus narrowed his eyes at the captain. “Who is this? Is this some internet relationship you aren’t telling me about?” he sounded like he was actually teasing her.

Her eye zipped it over to him. “Can it noob! Or i’ll destroy you extra hard in training tomorrow!”

Papyrus straightened. “I’d like to see you try!” he challenged.

She snorted. “You asked for it!”

Conversation continued normally. Sans seemed to relax after that. I felt a little relieved too. It was possible for a human and a monster to be soul mates but it was rare, not to mention insanely scandalous. Nothing a monster would want to go through. 

For just a brief moment I tried to imagine it. Him holding my hand, us sitting together reading books, occasionally exchanging a kiss… waking up next to each other. I felt my face heat up and my heart skip a beat. Wait... what? What the hell was that feeling? 

I glanced over to Sans, his eye lights were fixed on me. My face heat up more. No... no way was this happening. I turned away with a huff. There was no way I could be soul mates with him. I refuse! Stupid skeleton was my owner! He was the damn enemy! I grit my teeth, feeling confused and semi hostile.

“Yo loser get me another plate of that!” Undyne held out her plate to me.

“Get it yourself.” I snapped.

The room went silent. I looked around and realized again what was going on and where I was. I was frozen in place now, unsure of how I would get out of this. I looked to Sans but he just hung his head, again rubbing his temples.

“I’m so sorry!” Papyrus grabbed me by my shirt and pushed me into the living room. “She is rather determined and…” he was giving me a look that guaranteed that I dug my own grave. “Feral.” 

I scrambled to the opposite wall in the living room and plastered myself there while the tall skeleton went to get Undyne another plate of food.

The royal guard captain didn’t stop looking at me though. She was cracking a smile. “I like her.” she told Sans.

His skull rose and he faced her.

“I’m being serious!” she snickered. “She’s different that most of the humans. I think I’m starting to get why you got her. I mean other than the fact that you-” 

She was cut off by Papyrus coming in again. The skeleton glared at me one more time then sat back ready to socialize again.

It was another couple of hours before Undyne left. I stayed where I was plastered against the wall watching my feet while they had fun. All of the different ways that I could get punished flashed through my mind. Beatings were pretty common at the school, so was lack of food, hard labor was also a common punishment. I dreaded every single one of these. Flashbacks of the school kept me from breathing at some points.

The second she left though Papyrus grabbed my arm. “Now to deal with this.” he growled.

“Bro… just let me deal with it.” Sans tried to argue.

“No not this time brother.” he held his head high. “I’m putting her outside for the night.”

I twisted my head to look out a window. There was still snow on the ground, it was most likely freezing out there. Did he understand that I would die? I could feel the panic rise in my chest.

“You can’t-!” Sans started.

“If you don’t let her get punished tonight then I WILL tell him.” Papyrus threatened.

That shut him up. He looked at me thoughtfully while I silently begged him not to let him do it. He was my last line of defense. 

Finally he sighed. “Fine, but she will need the morning off to recover.”

I let out a breath, feeling betrayed.

“Fine.” Papyrus agreed and started dragging me to the door. 

I struggled and yelled and fought as much as I could. “Let me go!” I screamed. “I don’t even have socks on! I’ll freeze to death you numb skull! You can’t do this!” It didn't matter much, his death grip on me only got tighter the more I fought.

“In a few hours when you have learned your lesson, you may come in.” he opened the door and with a good shove I was thrown outside along with my boots. “There’s a dog house in the yard that I’m sure will help. Good luck.” he chuckled darkly.

I ran back to the door and made it just as it was slammed in my face.

Panic tried to force its way into my brain but I pushed it back. I just needed to figure out what to do. I put on my shoes quickly and I hugged my body while I tried finding the dog house he was talking about. I spotted the top of it in the snow. Even if I made my way over there the thing would most likely have snow in it. I couldn’t go there. So instead I went all around the house trying to see if I could open a window. All of them were either too high for me to reach or locked. I looked out into the city but there was no way I could get out there. 

Instead I curled up next to the door. This was too much. I was going to die out here. I started to hum to keep the panic away. It turned into singing, it was choppy but it helped. I didn't know a lot of songs but on the rare occasion I got to listen to the radio it was always comforting. Though I couldn't give the songs justice as my voice started to slur and the chattering teeth didn't help either. 

I shivered again and sobbed into my knees. I was beginning to feel numb. I don’t know how much time had passed but I was beginning to feel exhausted. That couldn't be a good sign.

“You told me you didn’t have any artistic talent.” Sans voice appeared out of nowhere and I jumped. “Easy…” he said comfortingly and opened his coat. “Come here, you have to be cold.”

I stood shakily and went to him. I wrapped my arms around him inside his coat. He was surprisingly warm despite being a skeleton. It was nice. It was safe. I didn’t bother having the argument with myself about acting like this with Sans.

I kept crying though. That I berated myself for doing.

“Frisk it’s okay…” he ran a hand through my hair and another hand wrapped around my waist keeping me close. “I’m not letting you stay out here okay?”

I looked up at him. “What do you mean?” I could barely get the words out, my speech was slurring so bad.

“I got a shortcut back to my room. Paps will never know that you I took you inside.” he explained to me. "You just have to be quiet okay?"

I could barely think. I was so cold, the only thing I knew was that I needed to get warm. So I nodded.

I blinked and there was a moment of intense dizziness but when I opened my eyes I was in his room. 

I jumped back and looked around feeling confused. I opened my mouth to ask him how but he put a finger to my lips.

“Shush....” he moved to a dresser and took out a sweater and a pair of sweatpants. “I'll be right back, change into those and get under the blankets.” he ordered and suddenly he was gone.

I took off my shoes and quickly changed into his clothes. I crawled into his bed, once again curled up trying really hard to make the numbness in my hands and feet go away. I wrapped the blanket around me as tight as I could but moving just hurt. I had to admit that it felt weird wearing his clothes but it was better than the clothes that were drenched with snow and ice.

It was a few minutes before the door opened and Sans walked in, quickly shutting the door and locking it behind him.

I was still shivering. He didn't hesitate in coming to my side. He took my arm and put two fingers to my pulse. “Shit…” he grumbled. Then he went to the other side of me, sitting on the bed. He took half of the blanket and wrapped himself up with me before pulling me close to him.

“W-what are you…?” I shivered again. 

“I’m just warming you up sweetheart.” He pulled me a little so I was leaning on him. “Just relax.”

I wanted to argue with him but he was so warm. And I felt so safe in his arms right now.

Right now I didn't care about fighting. I let myself soak in the warmth. “Thank you.” I closed my eyes and I felt sleep reaching out to me.

“Hey…” Sans called out and I jolted a little. “Don’t fall asleep on me now. We gotta raise your body temperature first.”

I groaned and opened my eyes again.

“So what made you snap at Undyne like that?” his question woke me up more. 

There was no way I could tell him the truth. He would probably laugh at me. “I don’t know.” I settled.

He still laughs. “I think both of us know that ain’t true at all.”

Knowing that he wasn’t going to let me get away with not talking about it, I sighed. “What’s a soulmate? You all kept talking about it and I’m curious.” I skirted around the real reason.

“You don’t know?” his laugh sounds awkward and nervous now. “Geez how do I explain this?” I could feel his fingers drum on my arm. “When a mommy and a daddy love each other very much-”

I elbowed him with the little bit of strength I had. “I know what _that_ talk is, bonehead.” I laughed softly. “Now you have to tell me the truth.”

“Alright alright, I’ve had my fun.” he took a breath. “Well… it’s kinda hard to explain as far as facts go. There’s not a lot known about it.” his fingers started drumming again. “All i can really say is that it mostly happens to monsters, sometimes to humans, very rarely between a monster and a human. It’s like that warm fuzzy feeling when you care for someone but stronger. The two souls call out to each other and from the time they meet its like fate ties that string between them. At some point the two souls will bond together. From then on they depend on each other because they always carry a piece of the other with them.”

“That’s very poetic for someone like you.” I tease.

“Hey I know my way around words, sweetheart.” he winked.

“Whatever.” I felt myself relax against him, “How do you know if you have a soul mate?”

“What’s with all these questions?” he teased back, “Feeling a little lovey dovey?” 

I roll my eyes. “I’m just curious. Am I not allowed to be curious?”

“Pfft… it would certainly keep you safer if you weren't.” He sighed. “Where'd you learn magic anyway?”

I was reluctant to say anything. The last thing I wanted was for him to take away one of the only pleasures I had. “If I tell you then you'll get mad.”

“I'm not mad that you know it. In fact I find it pretty fascinating. I don't know of any humans that know it anymore.”

“It looked like you were pretty mad back at the store.” I pointed out.

“It… startled me.” His voice was low. “You can't just go playing around with that kind of stuff.”

“Well why not? Don't you think it would help me?” I twisted my head to look up at him. “Like if I had known a little bit of fire magic you wouldn't have had to come out to rescue me like this.”

“You could have also burned yourself. Or worse got my brothers attention with it.” Those eye lights burned a very faint blue. “That would not have gone well.”

I remembered Papyrus talking about telling someone about me. “Is it because he would tell ‘him’?”

“Yeah.” he sounded grim.

“Who is ‘he’?”

“Our father. The Royal Scientist.” he said this casually but there was an undertone of aggression.

I hummed thoughtfully as I tried to picture the two brothers in a family setting. It was a little hard because, I had no personal experience with being in a family. What did a father do? In some of the books I read he was supposed to be the one who goes to work and makes money for the family. A provider or sorts. Right? 

In my few moments of thought I realized that I was starting to fall asleep again. “Is he a scary guy?” I asked sleepily.

“You could say that.” he sounded amused now. “You feel warm enough now. Get some rest, sweetheart.”

As I drifted off to sleep, I thought about this royal scientist. How scary could he be really? Maybe someday I would find out. I was filled with determination.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys I'm so happy that you all have been enjoying reading this! I'm really enjoying building this world and these characters! You all are awesome! :D


	5. Run

It was dark. So dark. Yet darker. I felt i was in a haze as I wandered this room of pitch blackness. 

“Hello?” I called.

My echo filled the room like for a moment and it was like the darkness absorbed it.

“Hello?” the voice was mine but deeper and distorted. It sounded like it was spoken through radio static.

I wasn’t alone. So I walked towards the sound of the voice. “Where are you?” I called. Again the echo bounced around before being absorbed. 

“ _Where are you?_ ” it emphasized, making me stop and look around. I saw nothing.

“Darkness.” I replied. 

“Darkness.” It confirmed.

I kept walking until I finally saw something in the distance. It looked like another mass of shadows but then it moved. I followed. 

Where it was going I had no idea.

“Who are you?” I finally said. 

There was no echo this time. The figure stopped and turned to me. I was frozen with fear. 

It loomed over me like a predator. I wanted to scream when it took a step toward me. I could hardly get the breath in my lungs. 

“ ** _Who are you?_** ” It's mouth cracked into a smile.

His eyes were like looking into the abyss. And when he looked at me, I could feel the abyss staring back.

\--

My eyes flew open and I sat up gasping. My gasping soon turned into furious coughing. I could feel my throat burn and my face was a little hot. Slowly I took a few breaths. Once I had control of my breathing I opened my eyes again. 

“Hey you okay?” A familiar and very tired voice asked. 

This isn't my room. That was…

Slowly I turned my head and saw Sans laying there. He must have taken off that sweater at some point in the night because I could see his exposed ribcage. It wasn't the same as seeing actual skin but it was still… shirtless. My face grew hotter. “I… you…”

He sat up. “You look a little flushed. You catch something?” 

My head did feel heavy. I remembered what happened last night. Of course I woke up here. How… scandalous. Did he not realize that?

“I-I'm fine.” I managed before he put a hand on my forehead. 

“Hmph… feels like you got a bit of a fever. Not surprising.”

I didn't look at him. How could I? I was sleeping in his bed. With him in it. 

He kept looking at me. “You look…” finally he noticed. “... uncomfortable. Right.” He got up and put on a shirt. “Sorry… after you fell asleep I didn't want to risk your body temperature dropping too low again. So I kept you with me. That way I could monitor you.” There was a light blue across his cheeks. “All professional…”

“Um… thanks.” I sneezed and groaned. 

“You should get some more rest.” he suggested.

“I’m fine…” I got up and shook myself out. “I’m gonna go change, I’ve probably spent too much time in here already.”

“You telling me you didn’t have a good time?” Sans winked.

I glared at him and left the room.

Over the next few days I did my best to deal with my chores but I was slow due to my cold. Sans insisted on giving me some cold meds to help cope with it every now and then but it didn’t help with Papyrus’s temper towards me. Sans stepped in sometimes and it would calm down his brother but it made that question hanging in the air just a little heavier every time. _Why?_

There were times that Papyrus pissed me off so much but I had to remember that I had nowhere to run right now. 

The dreams didn’t stop either. I wasn’t sure what to make of any of them but every time the looming figure got closer to me and every time I woke up in a sweat. I wanted very much to know who or what it was in the darkness. I tried not to think about it. The last thing I needed right now was something else to worry about.

\--

The day I started feeling better was the day that Papyrus wanted to take me out with him.

“I have something I need to pick up from the castle, I wish to take the human with me to assist.” he announced after breakfast.

“You don’t want to take me instead?” Sans asked, sounding a little confused.

He shook his head. “You aren’t the servant. We might as well put her to good use for once.”

Sans cast a glance to me. I decidedly didn’t look at him. “Alright.” he agreed hesitantly.

Within a few minutes we were headed out the door. Papyrus didn’t bother giving me a chance to follow him, instead threw the collar on me and pulled me along like a dog into town. Any time I lagged behind too much there was a quick shock from the collar. I don't know which part was worse, the shock or the painful burning on my neck after.

I could see the castle up ahead. It was huge and magnificent looking. I stared in awe for a moment but it was interrupted by another shock.

I yelped again and clawed at the collar. “Ugh! Why are you being like this?”

Papyrus stopped and turned to me. “Because I don’t like you.” he growled.

I tugged and yanked at it until it hurt. “What did I ever do to you?” I glared up at him.

He faked a laugh. “Don’t think I don't know what you’re doing to my brother, human.” he glared right back at me. If looks could kill I would be very dead. “I see the looks you give to each other. The way you talk to him.” he slapped me. “You seriously don’t know your place. You don’t even know how to fold laundry properly! And now because of you my brother’s gone soft.”

My head was yanked to the side with how hard he hit me. I could feel the welts form on my cheek and across my eye because of the cold bone fingers. “I haven’t done anything wrong. I do everything you say.” my voice was quieter but I tried my best to stand firm. People walked past us like it was nothing. It wasn’t completely out of the ordinary for human slaves to be chastised in public but I had to admit I felt exposed.

Suddenly from the ground bones rose and trapped me in a tight ring with one sharp bone pointed right under my neck. “You try my patience, human.” the bones retracted and he let go of the chain that held me to him. “Get out of here.”

I staggered back and fell on my butt. I took a few breaths before searching the skeleton's face for any sign of a trick. “W-what?”

“I said get out of here. This will be my one mercy to you, human. If you do not leave I’ll take you to Gaster to ensure your demise.” a chill ran down my spine, that wasn't just a threat.

Gaster? The royal scientist? Images of me getting tortured and experimented on came to my mind and I quickly got to my feet and ran. I didn't look back. I just rounded the corner and kept going. My lungs burned but I didn't stop. I don't know how long I had been running but I ran until my legs couldn't take it anymore. Rounding one more corner I fell to my knees and skid to a stop. My breath hissed as I grit my teeth. The knees in my jeans tore open along with the skin. But I made it away from Papyrus. I took a few minutes to catch my breath and think. Did he really just let me go? On purpose? Was this his plan or did he finally just have enough of me? What will Sans think? It didn't matter now. I gathered the chain from my collar and put as much of it as I could in my pocket. Next on the agenda was to find somewhere warm. This was not part of my plan. I had to try to improvise though.

Slowly I got up and looked around. I didn't recognize this part of the city. 

I was nervous but surely I could find somewhere to hide. So many of the buildings had graffiti drawn on them. There was a lot of it that I stopped to look at because it looked pretty. Then there were random things written, it looked like the writings of a mad man. “Beware the man who speaks in hands.” Odd thing to say. 

It looked to be about midday now. I felt hungry and desperately wanted a drink of water. Unfortunately I was shooed away from any place that might have that. Some monsters even threw things at me to get me to leave. 

By evening I had to stop and rest. It was getting colder. I could try to use my fire magic tonight. It might help. I sneaked into an ally before trying. I focused all of my energy and soul on making fire in my hand. I had managed a spark when I heard voices. 

“What the hell is that?” Someone was coming. 

Quickly I looked around to hide but there was nothing but a dead end.

“Looks like a human!” Another laughed. “You run away from home?” It mocked concern.

I stood. “S-stay away from me!” 

A bear looking monster with a rabbit were walking towards me. They both laughed. 

“Aww…” the rabbit cracked it's knuckles. “She thinks she's tough.”

The bear chuckled. “You think you're tough shit human?”

I could feel my hands tremble. I didn't want to fight them. “I-If you hurt me then... my master will be very upset!” it was obviously a bluff but I wasn't sure what else to do.

They both laughed again. “Funny…” they were right in front of me now. “From what it looks like to us… with that collar around your neck, it looks more like you ran away. In fact your master might thank is for teaching you a lesson.”

I took a step back. 

“Stupid human…” the bear was the first to strike. He pushed me with enough force I landed hard against the dead end to the alleyway. 

Before I regained my balance I felt a fist in my face and I was knocked to the ground. All I could think to do was curl up and cover my head. Everything hurt. There was a brand new burst of pain as I heard a loud crack in my ribs. I cried out. I called out for help. “Someone! Help please!” I screamed.

“Nobody's coming for you!” The bear grabbed my chain and started yanking me. I did my best to get to my feet but I just ended up getting dragged on the concrete. I could feel the collar bruise my neck every time I was pulled. 

“Hey!” A voice called. “There hell is wrong with you kids?”

I didn't have the strength to look up. My vision was blurred and I was in too much pain.

“Shit, ain't that Gerson's guy?” One of them asked anxiously. 

The chain dropped and the two ran for it. So I was left sprawled on the ground. I coughed a little but that hurt a lot. Slowly and carefully I did my best to get up. I had made it to my elbows when I was gently helped up. 

The person who saved me was a human. He was an older guy, his hair was silver and his eyes were kind. “I gotcha…” he let me lean against him. “What's your name?”

“F… Frisk.” I croaked out.

“Alright Frisk… my name is Vic.” He adjusted his grip on me to help me stand better. “I'm going to take you to my place and my friend will make sure you're good, okay?”

I wasn’t sure I could trust this guy. But I was out of options right now. So I nodded. 

We hobbled down the street as he spoke. “Did you run away?”

I clutched my side the pain was unbelievable. “I… got scared. And I ran…” I took a painful breath. “until I was sure Papyrus couldn't find me.”

“Papyrus?” He sounded surprised. “The skeleton?”

I nodded. 

He didn't say anything until we made it to an antique shop. He opened the door and we entered. The place smelled old and somehow homey. 

“Gerson!” He called out. “I found a human! She's hurt pretty good!”

We started towards a door in the back of the room. 

“Alright, you know where to put her!” A voice that sounded like another older guy called back.

He opened another door and led me to a couch. It looked like a store room for all of the things that wouldn't fit in the normal shelves. 

I was happy to finally sit. I still hurt but at least I didn't have to move. Though now that I wasn’t moving I could feel all of the bruises forming on my body. Specifically the black eye I had gotten. 

Vic left the room and came back with a glass of water and an ice pack. He carefully put the ice on the side of my face and let me take the water from him. I readily took the cup and downed it. 

“Slow down kid. Don't hurt yourself more.” Vic sounded genuinely concerned. 

I set the cup down on a small table beside the couch. “Why did you help me?”

“It's my job. It's what soldiers do.” He said proudly. 

“Soldier?” Any human army would have been disassembled by now but with his age maybe he really was... “Did…” I lowered my voice. “Did you fight in the war?” 

“Sure did. I'm probably one of the last humans who remembers it at all.” He leaned back on the wall by the door. 

“How did it end?” I asked quickly. 

He gives me an odd look. “Curious question. Humanity learned pretty quick not to be curious.”

I sat up a little more, wincing as I did so. “I was reading about the war not too long ago. It didn’t really say anything about it.”

He gave a half laugh. “It wouldn’t.”

The door opened and an old turtle man walked in. “Now what’s going on here?” he looked at me. “Get lost, little miss?”

I looked between Vic and the old turtle man. I had to assume that this was Gerson. “Kinda.” I admitted.

The turtle looked me over and spotted the collar. “No need for that thing.” he reached over and pushed a button. It clicked and fell off of my neck.

I took a deep breath, the skin was tender with fresh bruising. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet, little miss.” he nodded. “You got beat up pretty good out there. You look like that human girl from the…” he narrows his eyes. “Wait…”

I wanted to laugh but it hurt too much so i settled for a smirk. “Am I always going to be known for the way I showed up to auction?”

Gerson burst out laughing. “You made quite an impression over the years. That’s an impressive amount of determination you got there.” He looked at me as though he were looking past me. 

I looked at Vic, “What’s he doing?” I asked uncomfortably.

“He’s checking you. Making sure you aren’t hurt too bad.” he looked calm and relaxed. 

“Indeed.” Gerson confirmed. “It doesn’t look like you’re in too bad of a shape. A cracked rib but only just.” he blinked and looked at me with a smile. “So… you ran away from the the skeleton brothers?”

I blinked, trying to figure out how he knew.

He chuckled again. “I saw who you got sold to.”

“Oh. Right.” I thought about how angry Papyrus was and how willing he was to kill me in the street. “Are you going to send me back?”

“Not tonight at least.” he wobbled over to a closet and took out a blanket. “You are in no shape to move right now. Tonight, you rest.” he laid the blanket over me and started walking out. “Of course you can leave when you want if you are really looking to get away.”

He shut the door behind him.  
The blanket was fluffy and warm, I adjusted myself so I could lay down. Vic was still here. “Are you ever going to tell me about the war?”

He sighs. “You aren’t going to let it go are you? That information is dangerous. If you know, you might catch some unwanted attention.”

What could he possibly mean by that? I furrowed my brow, “Who?”

He gave a thoughtful look. “Ya know kid, I think you already know. Have you ever looked into the void?”

I felt my face pale. “It looked back.” memories of my nightmares came back to me. “You have the nightmares too? What do they mean?”

Solemnly he nodded. “It means that there’s a demon trying to play god.” finally he turned to leave. “Maybe one day I’ll tell you what happened. Right now you should try to rest.” the light was switched off and I was left alone.

With that statement I knew that I couldn’t leave New Kingdom yet. The feeling that I was getting closer to answers filled me with determination.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot thickens! Poor Frisk always getting into trouble. Thank you guys for all of the kudos and comments! It's all very encouraging!


	6. Reuniting

Sleep was restless that night, mostly due to all of my aches and pains. It was hard to get comfortable when I still felt like a shoe was kicking me. When I slept though, my dreams didn’t consist of the darkness. Instead my dreams drifted around Sans.

He was probably worried. I wondered if he was looking for me. Would we find each other again? 

I had probably gotten a few hours of sleep when I was lightly shaken out of it.

“Hey Frisk…” Vic stood over me. 

I took a breath, once again pain fully waking me. “What?” 

He helped me sit up. My stiff body made me groan. “Come on. I’m taking you to your master.”

I flinched a little. “I have to go back?” what was Papyrus going to do when he saw me? What was Sans going to do? My nerves were going wild.

“Well… you don’t have to. I suggest you do though. It’ll probably be better for your health.” he continued to help me until I was standing. I could walk by myself, though the experience was painful.

“How could going back be better for my health?” 

He blinked. “You don’t know yet do you?”

I was getting a bit tired of him not telling me anything. “What don’t I know this time?”

He smirked. “I won’t ruin the surprise.” he led me out into the streets again. The sun was brightly shining. I had to squint to see properly, which also hurt.

I finally got a good look at where I was. All up and down the street there were little shops, some of them had bars on the windows. It didn’t feel like a nice part of town so I stuck close to Vic, most people didn’t look twice, especially when they saw him. I guess he was pretty well know.

We didn't have to go far before we made it to a bar. Grillby’s. It looked closed though. That didn’t stop Vic from pounding on the front door. “Hey! We’re here!”

A few seconds ticked by before literal fire wearing a bartender suit and a name tag that read ‘Grillby’ opened the door. I could feel the heat and hear the crackling from where I stood. He stepped aside to let us walk in. The place was, as I suspected, much warmer.

“Sans know she’s here?” the flame’s voice was rough, like listening to a campfire talk.

“Yeah. I gave him a meeting place and a time. Chances are he’ll be here-” Vic was interrupted by the sound of banging on the door. It sounded much more desperate to get inside. “Speak of the skeleton…” Vic said sarcastically.

Grillby went to open the door again. Sans immediately barged inside he looked around the room quickly before his eyes locked on me. “Shit sweetheart.” he cursed and stepped toward me. My heart pounded in my chest and I froze as he embraced me. There was pain in my ribs but I didn’t complain. The hug felt safe. “What happened to you?” he pulled away but only just. He moved my hair to get a better look at my black eye.

“I’m fine.” I felt flustered. He looked so concerned for me. What was I supposed to do right now?

He shook his head. “Fine, huh?” he took note of all of the bruises. “I just hope the other guy looks worse.”

I smiled a little. “Vic was the one who saved me.” I looked in his direction.

Vic nodded to Sans who straightened. “Thanks man. Seriously.”

He didn’t say anything, instead stuck his hand out for the skeleton to shake. Which Sans more than welcomed it. Vic gave one more look to me. “You okay kid?”

I nodded. “Thank you for everything.”

“Good. I’ll be seeing you.” Vic was the first to leave. 

Grillby, who had been watching all of this, approached. “Why don’t you two stay for lunch? I'm sure you're hungry.”

Almost as if on cue my stomach rumbled a little. I blushed.

“Sure, I'll pass but she could probably use a burg. I can assume that this is going on my tab?” Sans gave the bartender a knowing look.

“Obviously.” he turned to go into the kitchen.

We sat in a booth in the corner for a couple of minutes it was silence. I felt a little overwhelmed over the past day. Though most of that feeling came from Sans acting like that towards me. Even now he was watching me out the corner of his eye as he lit a cigarette.

He carefully held it in his teeth. “What’s with that look sweetheart?”

I blinked, realizing now that I was also staring at him. “Why are you being like this?”

“Like what?” he asked curiously.

“Like this. Like you care about me.”

“Why wouldn't I?”

My head hurt from the amount of confusion that came from that statement. “Sans I’m a human. Monsters don’t treat humans like you treat me.” 

“What’s your point?” he set the cigarette in the ashtray.

“I don’t understand.”

He didn’t look at me, he glanced at my hand resting on the table, his moving only an inch towards mine before stopping and leaning back in his seat. “You don’t have to understand.” I wasn't satisfied with that answer. I just wanted one straight answer from someone. Anyone!

Just then Grillby came out from the back with a burger and fries. My mind stopped immediately at the smell. It smelled so good. He set them on the table and went back to the bar to start some music. It was slow and sounded kinda romantic. 

Sans glared at the bartender to which he responded with a thumbs up before walking into the back again.

“Let me guess you've never had a burger?” Sans teased.

I shook my head. “They sometimes had them in the cafeteria but I wasn't allowed to have anything nice. I… was always in trouble.”

“Hah, some things never change.” he takes a drag of the cigarette. With how relaxed Sans was right now, you wouldn't believe that only a few minutes ago he was freaking out about anything.

I took my first bite and there was a moment of bliss. Just like when I tried pizza the first time. I sighed happily. “What were you like when you were younger? I don't imagine you as a 'good kid.’” I shoved some fries in my mouth. 

“I was an angel.” He winked.

“Yeah?” I cocked an eyebrow. “How much was the property damage?”

He chuckles. “I’m offended sweetheart.” He smirked. “You assume I ever got caught.”

I pouted and grumbled about how his teleporting nonsense was cheating as I chewed on another bite of burger. 

He grew silent for a few moments. “None of that was because of Papyrus was it?” the question seemed out of the blue but genuine worry was on his face. Again.

I shook my head. “No. Not that he had to.” I grumbled again. “I thought he was going to kill me. I got scared and ran.”

He nodded slowly. “I doubt he would actually kill you.”

“Easy for you to say. He was apparently trying to defend you.” I lazily ate my fries now, my burger gone. “Have you ‘gone soft?’” I teased, trying my best to lighten the mood.

He knocks on the top of his skull. “Head still as hard as ever.”

I laughed. “Sounds about right.”

After that it seemed just like idle chitchat. It was nice but again here I was getting comfortable around him. This was the reason that Papyrus got so mad. What would he do if he saw us like this?

I finished eating and we left. It was still painful to move, I had to lean on Sans as we got closer to the house. 

“Is… Is he home?” I hesitated to ask as we approached the door. 

“No.” he unlocked the door and opened it. “I wouldn’t worry about it too much though. We came to an understanding about it. Just stay close to me for right now.”

We entered the house and I instantly relaxed. He took me to my room where I could lay down. The feeling of being somewhere familiar, somewhere somewhat safe with Sans… filled me with determination.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter, this week has been wild. Either way, I hope you guys enjoyed it!


	7. Stay Determined

Sans came up to my room in the morning. “Alright, sweetheart let’s see what we can do about all _this_.”

I glared at him and crossed my arms. “You just gestured to all of me.”

“Yep. One big problem.” he teased and sat next to me. A light green wrapped around his hand, he got to work on healing me little by little. I couldn’t help but fidget though. His proximity and the touch was uncomfortable and I wasn’t sure quite why. “Ow…” I complained.

“It wouldn’t hurt so much if you just held still.” Sans grumbled.

“I can’t help it!” I huffed. 

“It’ll be done soon, give me your other arm.” He held a hand out to me.

I scowled and adjusted myself so that he could get to my other arm.

His hand glowed a light green again and when it touched my skin it was warm, almost relaxing. Then it would get hot, almost burning, and it would be done. Then he would move on to the next bruise or scrape. I did my best to stay still while he worked but once he started working on my legs and couldn’t help but blush.

“Don’t worry sweetheart, I’m a professional.” he winked. “I won’t make it weird.” and he actually didn’t, he went slow making sure I didn’t seem to uncomfortable. Then he knelt in front of me and started reaching for my torso.

“I swear Sans if you touch something you aren’t supposed to…” I warned.

He blinked and his face softened. “Look how about this,” he held his palm out, “You guide my hand to where it hurts.”

I looked at his hand and bit my lip, trying to decide if he was being sincere. Having his hands all over my body made me feel weird enough, I didn't want any funny business. The look on his face made it clear that he had no bad intentions. I felt an odd sense of safety with him. So I took his hand. 

“See? You can trust me.” he spoke gently and let me guide his hand around my stomach and ribs. It stopped burning. Now it just felt relaxing. 

I leaned forward and put his hand on my back. The soothing touch of his healing hand made me feel tired. I almost hadn’t realized that how close his face was to mine. I let go of his hand.

“Don’t you go falling asleep on me.” he chuckled lightly.

I opened my eyes, our foreheads were practically touching. I met his eyes I could feel a blush on my face. I even noticed a light shade of blue on his face. “Why do you care so much?” 

“You ask that a lot.” his hand slide up my spine slowly.

I was so close to him now I could have sworn he was going to kiss me. And I was just going to let it happen. “You never answer me.”

His hand slides off of me. “One more.” his fingers graze my face. 

I lean on his hand. “Come on.” my voice sounded tired now. “You have to tell me. Everyone I met seems to think that… we…” my heart was pounding in my chest.

“I’ll tell you later alright?” he interrupted. “Meet me in the sitting room late tonight.” he stands up and leaves, only casting one more glance at me before descending the ladder.

I was just left wondering why my heart wouldn't stop pounding. In fact throughout the rest of the day every time I saw him my heart thumped really hard in my chest. It helped me block out the nasty things that Papyrus said about me. Sans spent most of his day in that secret room of his but seeing him during meals relaxed me again. He would just glance over at me with a slight smile and I felt the tension in my shoulders collapse. When I finished cleaning the kitchen for the night I went back to my room. I would have read but I couldn’t focus. I just kept looking at the clock. It was past midnight when I finally decided to sneak over to the sitting room. 

As I tiptoed down the hall I could hear the piano being played. Was that… Sans? I rounded the corner and indeed it was him sitting behind the keys. He stopped and looked up at me. “It’s about time you made it sweetheart.” he smirked. “I was beginning to think you forgot about me.”

I shrugged. “You never gave me a specific time.” I went and leaned on the side of the piano. “So… I believe you were in the middle of telling me something?” 

He pat the seat next to him. “I was just working on something. Come see if you like it.”

There he went ignoring the question again. I sat next to him and listened to him play. He was fantastic. I never would have guessed he played so well. He even got me humming along to it once I understood the rhythm. 

When the song was done he covered the keyboard and leaned his elbow on it. “Your voice goes along very nicely with the song.”

My heart started pounding again with the way he looked at me. “Thank you.”

“I want you to learn the lyrics. So you can sing to my playing.” 

I blinked, confused. “I don't know if I could-”

“Don’t be so modest. You sound great.”

“I guess I could try.” I half smiled, still feeling impatient. “Are you going to tell me things now?”

“Alright alright…” he took a breath. “Remember when you asked about soulmates?”

“Soulmates? Uhh… yeah.” I remembered the conversation, the fact that it's being brought up now made my heart feel like it was going to fly out of my chest. 

“Tell me… with everything that's happened to you at the hands of monsters, would you hate it if you were soulmates with one?” He didn't look at me. 

I gulped. “W-well…” I stuttered. “I never really thought about it. Maybe it just depends.”

He turned to me, throwing a leg over the bench to fully face me. “Depends on what?”

I did the same to face him but didn’t look up so I could hide my red face. “Depends on who it is.”

“You know when I first saw you on stage I wasn’t really sure why I was so fascinated with you. I'm not one to make snap decisions. The look you gave me up there was positively _vicious_. I knew you were challenging me. Normally I don't step up to challenges. Not my thing. You sparked something in me. And I think I sparked something in you too. I never thought I'd find my soulmate, never thought I deserved it. Hell, I'm even standing up to my brother for you. You're…” he studied my shocked face. “... terrifyingly different.”

The pieces started fitting together in my mind. Us being so relaxed around each other wasn't natural. Monsters and humans weren't supposed to be so close. Yet here we were. In each other's personal space. Sans just told me we were soulmates. 

Soulmates. 

“Does that mean you _like_ … me?” I felt my face heat up. I knew the question was stupid, but it was all my brain could get out of my mouth. 

He burst out laughing. “Darlin’ did you not hear me? We’re soulmates. It's way more than like.”

Way more than like. “You love me?” I asked, breathless.

“I'll prove it to you.” He put this hand over his chest and it started glowing blue. In a moment there was a dark grey upside-down heart in his hand. A few deep cracks ran in his soul, each of them glowed a faint blue. There was a tug in my chest now. It startled me but Sans wasn't doing anything. He wasn't pulling. So I let it go. My red soul fluttered out of my chest and into my hand, it didn't hurt this time but I still felt exposed and vulnerable. With our souls so close together I could see the way they flowed and how the closer our souls were together the brighter they got. 

My heart was racing, it showed in the way my soul lightly pulsed I'm my fingers. 

Sans seemed a bit more hesitant in bringing his closer but he takes my free hand and opens in, laying his soul in my palm. I almost stopped breathing, I felt like I was holding something that was priceless and precious. Then I held out my soul to him. Tenderly, he took it in his hands. 

I felt warm. Safe. I think this is what it's like to feel loved.

“This is what it's like.” He sounded amazed as he stared into the colors of my soul. We leaned forward until our foreheads touched. 

“Does this mean that we're supposed to get married or something?” my eyes didn't leave his soul. 

He chuckled. “That's a human tradition. In the monster world, we soul bond.”

“Are we going to soul bond?” I asked innocently.

He chuckled again, a bit more suggestively. “You wanna soul bond with me right now?”

The way he said that made it seem more… intimate. I blushed. “I… don't know anymore.”

That sly smile softened, “I wouldn't do that to you. I want to take this slow. I want to know you completely first.”

I sighed with relief. “I like the sound of that.”

His hand gently ran down my cheek. I never felt so calm and safe with anyone.

\----

“You ungrateful whelp!” Papyrus yelled, having found a couple of spots I missed cleaning in the kitchen. This was the seventh time today he started yelling at me. “You’re taken back into this house and your repayment is this?”

“Oh I’m so sorry that everything isn’t completely perfect. Maybe next time you should do it all yourself since you are just the very definition of it.” the biting sarcasm made the the skeleton’s hands go into a fist. I could hear the bones rattling.

“You try my patience, human. You should be kissing the ground my brother walks on, had it been my choice I would have left you out there to die.” he growled. “Remember that I can still kill you!”

I stood as tall as I could, which only reached the bottom of his ribcage, and gripped the knife I had been cleaning. “Well then do it! I’m not afraid of you!” I snapped.

“YOU DARE CHALLENGE THE GREAT PAPYRUS??” he boomed.

Adrenaline was pumping through my veins, there was a part of me that screamed to stand down but I ignored it. I was way too sick of being treated like crap, human or not. “I’m. Not. Afraid.” 

“Foolish human.” he turned and stomped away from me. “Outside. Two minutes.” I heard the front door open and slam shut.

I stood there a few moments processing what just happened. I stared at the knife in my hand, was I was really going to do this? I didn’t want to kill him. I threw the knife back into the sink. That wasn’t going to stop me from fighting him. I tightened the ribbon in my hair and stalked into the living room. I put on my boots, tying them up tightly, then took off my sweater, throwing it into the hallway, leaving me only in my tank top and my pants. 

I looked back to the hallway one more time, knowing that I should go get Sans. He would help cool things down. But if he did this would just happen again. I would keep getting treated like crap, and Papyrus would keep getting more and more angry. No doubt he's been like this because he knows something is going on with me and Sans. It's only been a few days since I found out I have a soulmate. It would be a lie if I said we didn't exchange meaningful looks and hugs from each other when we could. Papyrus obviously couldn't know, he would probably take me away from Sans. We did our best to hide everything. I'm over it. I'm tired of hiding everything. I'm tired of hiding behind Sans. Most of all I'm tired of the way Papyrus hates me for just being human. This time I'll stand up for myself. I do hope that Sans will forgive me for this.

I took a breath before going outside. It was still cold outside but I couldn’t really feel it past my anger.

Papyrus stood in the yard with his arms crossed. “So you actually showed up? Determined and stupid.” he spat.

“Shut up.” I stood a decent distance away from him. “I just want you to leave me alone. If I have to fight you to make that happen then I’m willing to do that.” I put my fists up in front of my face, my hands felt like they were burning with magical energy that I had no idea how to use.

“You need to be put your _place_ , human. Since my brother refuses to properly do it. I will.” a wall of bones rose from the ground, surrounding the two of us in a small arena.

I didn’t have any time to think before waves of magic bones started coming at me. I could only dodge as he relentlessly sends attacks at me. Slowly I’m able to inch closer to him, if I can just get to him I might be able to do something. Just as I feel like I'm making some progress one of the attacks takes me by surprise and I'm sent flying back to the other end of the cage. “Stay down human.” Papyrus orders.

“No.” I stand up again.

“What the hell is going on?” we both looked over to see Sans running out the door.

This didn’t seem to stop Papyrus from continuing his attacks. “Discipline.” he says resentfully. 

“What?? Bro you have to stop now.” he pleaded.

Another attack sent me flying back. Papyrus said nothing, he just kept deadly focus on me.

Again I stood up, feeling exhausted, but I wasn’t dead yet. 

“You’re going to kill her!” Sans yelled.

Papyrus rolled his eyes. “I’ll get you another.” finally I saw an opening. Grabbing a stick I from the ground I sprinted at him and jumped on the tall skeleton whacking the top of his skull with the stick. He was a lot more sturdy than I had expected. He stumbled back a few feet. “You’re going to pay for that human!” he grabbed the back of my shirt and managed to throw me off of him. “I tire of your games!”

I hit the ground hard and before I could get up I was hit. Bones jutted out from the ground and ran me through the chest. My body hung limp from them. The pain was like nothing I've ever experienced. I didn't even have the strength to cry out. 

“Frisk!” Sans shuffled forward. “No…”

The bones disappeared and I landed on the ground. Or I would have if Sans didn’t catch me. The last thing I saw was his terrified face looking down at me. “You can't give up! Stay determined!”


	8. Deja Vu

Darkness. A place that felt familiar yet more dangerous than ever now. This was the place from my dreams. If I'm here… then that means that _thing_ will be here too. So I didn't linger. I needed a place to hide. Was this the afterlife? Did I really die? I could still feel residual pain from where Papyrus ran me through. There was no blood but there was a hole in my chest. It made focusing on where I was going. I roamed around for what seemed like hours, does time even exist here? 

“Hello Frisk.” I heard that same static voice, they seemed a good distance away but it chilled me. It knew my name.

My feet moved faster than my brain, before I knew it I was sprinting ahead, unsure as to where to go but anywhere was better than near that thing.

Finally I saw something in the distance, a little glimmer of light, flickering like a candle in this dismal place. My lungs burned and the hole in my chest ached as I sprinted for the light.

“There’s no use in running.” the voice was closer now.

Fear kept my adrenaline spiked but I still felt like my lungs were going to collapse.

I skid on my knees to finally reach this little star on the ground. I grasped it in my hands, still unsure why I felt so much hope from it.

“You’ll be back.” the voice said through a distorted chuckle. "You always come back."

My vision went white for a while. I wasn’t sure what was going on, where I was, everything was confusing until I felt like I fell into my body again.

\--

I sat up abruptly in my bed screaming. In my flailing around I fell off the side and landed with a loud thud. I scrambled up and looked around. My arms were covered in familiar bruises from a couple days ago. The side of my face was still tender. These weren’t from my fight from Papyrus. “Impossible…”

The door to my attic slammed opened and Sans bolted up to me. “What happened? Are you okay?”

I stared up at him, then around the room. Was all of that stuff just a dream? The void? The fight with Papyrus? Sans… I wanted to reach up to him but I stopped. He was my owner now, I somehow made it back to the morning before Sans told me about being soulmates. 

I looked down, my heart sinking. “Just a nightmare… i didn’t mean to scream like that.”

He relaxed a little. “Must have been a hell of a nightmare.” he knelt down and helped me to sit on the bed. “Alright sweetheart, since you got me up here, I might as well see what I can do with all this.” 

“You just gestured to all of me.” I crossed my arms. Deja vu.

He laughs. “Yep. One big problem.”

We had this conversation, he made that joke. I got annoyed with him. How did I get sent back? I had so many questions and none of them could be answered because they were all impossible questions.

He glances to my face. “Looks like you’ve seen a ghost.” the hand moves to another bruise, it burns and I flinch. “Did I make that joke before?”

My head was spinning. “No.” I force out.

He hums and looks like he’s pondering something. 

I flinch again as he moves to heal another bruise. Its warm and relaxing, then it burns, then its done. I knew how this went. His touch was a lot more relaxing than the first time this happened. When he started on my legs I didn’t move at all. He watched me curiously as his hand went up my leg. “I’m surprised you haven’t said anything about this.” 

I had just been reviewing all of the things in my head that was supposed to happen today according to my “dream” when he spoke. “What’s there to say?”

He shrugs. “It seems like you actually trust me or something.” he sounded casual but there was something about it that seemed like he was trying to get at something.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Should I not?”

“I’m nothing but professional, sweetheart.” he starts on my torso and I start blushing again. “Am I making you nervous?”

I shook my head. He continued working though his eyes stuck to my face, trying to study me. Not that I noticed all that much. My mind only focused on his touch. I hadn’t even realized that I moved closer to him until he spoke again.

“You got something you want to tell me, sweetheart?” his voice was soft but tense.

I realized that I was right about to kiss him. He hadn’t stopped me thus far. But he wasn’t my soulmate now. Well he was, but we hadn’t had that talk yet. I had to keep reminding myself of that and I moved away, my face burning like a fire. “I guess I just zoned out.” 

Nothing else was said. He finished healing my bruises and breaks and left the room without even a look in my direction. So I was left trying to figure out this puzzle. One thing was certain though, whatever was in the void was the one causing this. I wasn’t sure how yet but it was all I had to go off of. 

I was filled with determination as I got up to start my day over. Every time I trusted my knowledge about the past, or I guess the present, for the next couple of days it seemed to work out in my favor. Papyrus didn’t get the chance to yell at me once. The only difference was that Sans was nowhere to be seen. Not that I could blame him too much. After my weird display that morning, I would avoid me too.

I had to admit though, his avoidance hurt a little. I was just getting used to the idea of having a soulmate. There was no doubt that I would have to talk to him about that. If I’m lucky, things between us can go back to that. I only had it for a short time but it was so nice.

I was in the middle of cooking dinner when there was a knock at the door. Since I was just waiting on something in the oven, I went to see who was there.

I turned the corner to see that Sans had already answered it. How did he get there so fast? Vic was at the door, oddly enough, and it looked like the two were having a bit of a heated conversation. So I hid myself behind the wall and listened carefully.

“Don’t play dumb, bonehead.” Vic scoffed. “You felt it too didn’t you?”

Sans sighed heavily. “Yeah… something weird happened. One of my scanners went off the other day. That’s all I know right now.”

“I’m sure it is.” a note of disbelief in Vic’s tone. “A reset hasn’t happened since the war. We both know what’s about to happen if you report it. It’ll be in both of our best interests if you don’t.”

“You know I ain’t got a choice here. Gaster probably already knows about the reset, it’s pretty hard to hide something like that from him.” Sans was tense, more tense than I’ve ever known him to be. I could hear his bones rattle from here.

There was silence.

“Where’s Frisk?” Vic asked pensively.

“She’s not your concern.” Sans answered coldly.

The man laughed. “Yeah? I’d like to see you name anyone else with her levels of determination. She will be target number one.”

“Shut up.” 

“Face the facts, boneman. There’s gonna be a lot of human blood on the streets soon and if she doesn’t come with me-” he was cut off.

“She is mine. I will take care of her.”

I shivered, there was a physical chill in the air now.

Another tense silence. “Alright… I get it.” it sounded like Vic was walking away now. “You know where I’ll be when you need me.”

The door shut.

I quickly and quietly darted back into the kitchen just in time to take the food out of the oven. It hadn’t even burned. I felt a bit of pride. 

Thoughts about what ‘resets’ could mean clouded my brain throughout dinner. The whole conversation between Vic and Sans made me realize that Sans knew more about this than he let on.

The comment about his joke the other morning made complete sense. 

“HUMAN!” Papyrus’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

“Yes?” 

“Get me another drink.” he ordered.

“Right…” I took his glass and went to the kitchen.

“And pay more attention to what’s going on! It’s affecting your productivity!” he huffed.

I didn’t say anything about that. The last thing i wanted to do was pick a fight with Papyrus right now. My chest hurt a little just thinking about it.

After dinner I started clearing the dishes from the table. I looked around for Sans, maybe I could talk to him while Papyrus was painting another picture of pasta in the sitting room. He was nowhere to be found though.

Of course. I thought with a huff.

Fine… he wants to play that game? That’s fine. We live in the same house, he can’t get rid of me that easily. With that I cleaned the kitchen and started for my room.

Just before I started up the stairs I looked at Sans’s forbidden door.

It was slightly ajar. I am filled with determination.


	9. A Lab and A Castle

I blinked a few times, just to make sure that I wasn’t seeing things. Nope… it was open. It’s been a while since I’ve arrived to this place and I’ve never even seen the door be opened before. I checked the living room than upstairs to see if Sans was still awake. His bedroom door was also slightly ajar, but that wasn’t abnormal. I glanced inside to see him asleep in his bed. It looked more like he had collapsed there, he didn’t even make it to a pillow, his legs just dangled off the side of the bed. He couldn’t even stay awake long enough to change into pajamas, he laid there in jeans and his coat still on. There was an unlit cigarette in his hand still.

If I went into that door I knew I would get in trouble. Sans would be the one mad at me this time too. That didn’t stop me from sneaking back downstairs to that door. If I didn’t take this chance I may never get it again. I had so many questions and there was some part of me that felt like this place might have some of the answers. 

Now or never.

I opened the door. It led to a set of stairs that went down. My eyes darted around the hallway one more time before stepping inside.

Down.

And down.

...and down.

When I finally reached the bottom I was met with… a lab?

Books I had never seen before were scattered across a few different tables. There were machines that lined the wall. Most of them were turned off. I looked through the notes that were scattered on floor  
and the table. Even in a lab, he couldn’t bother to organize.

The few of the notes I looked at were about soul mates. One of the papers listed the ‘symptoms.’ Lack of focus, protective of individual, irrational thinking, anxiety, sensing emotions… the list went on. I had to put it down once it got into more suggestive symptoms. Thinking about such things with Sans involved made me feel nervous. 

So I moved onto the computer at the far end of the room. It was still turned on and the screen looked to be on a search page. Hesitantly, I typed in ‘reset’ and hit enter. There was a loading icon for a few seconds before a page pulled up.

Reset - an occurrence that happens with humans where they transport themselves to the last time they were safe. Such a feat happens only with individuals with high levels of determination.

Below that information is a graph labeled “space time continuum” the line in the graph goes across the page and each day has its own label. It’s a straight line until the other day where the line spikes. It was real. I wasn’t going crazy. I was killed by Papyrus, my soul lingered in that void place, and I sent myself back a couple of days to the last place I felt truly safe. Another graph appeared, this one labeled “levels of determination.”

The levels, from least to most, were: docile, reluctant, rebellious, turbulent, determined, and unchained. The bar to that graph went all the way up to the top. 

I was going to explore more but then I heard the slam of a door in the distance and footsteps. Panicking, I hid behind a desk. He figured me out already? I thought I had at least a couple more hours before he woke up. The footsteps stopped.

“ _Frisk._ ” he called out to me, anger clear in his voice.

I was frozen in place. All at once my chest glowed blue and I was thrust out into the open. Across the room Sans stood in the doorway, his eye glowed bright blue. I gulped, unable to do anything about this.

“Ya know…” he started walking to me with a chilling calmness. “I don’t know what’s more insulting, the fact that you came down here despite me tellin' you not to or the fact that you actually tried to _hide_ from me.” 

I tried to move but I couldn’t, the magic held me in place. “I just…”

“Just what? Had to know?” he marches up into my face and points at the computer. “You had to know?!” he roared.

I flinched.

“I gave you one rule, Frisk. One.” he held up a finger. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I looked him in the eyes, which blazed with fury. “All those graphs are about me aren't they?”

“Because you are HUMAN.” he dramatically rolls his eyes. “That means I don’t have to tell you anything!”

 _But we’re soulmates…_ its what I wanted to say. I didn’t. We didn’t have that conversation. So I stayed silent. The magic let me go but I didn’t move.

He huffed. “What a pain… I can’t keep my eye off of you for a few minutes without you getting into trouble.”

“Maybe I wouldn’t be so much trouble if you just told me about these things.” I mumbled and crossed my arms close to my chest. 

“Maybe if you weren’t so determined and stupid.” he threw back.

I froze there. It’s what Papyrus called me just before killing me. Everything started feeling way too real. I knew that it happened now, it wasn’t a nightmare anymore. My eyes went to the floor and my hand gripped my chest. I could feel magic start gathering on my fingertips and it burned. “I’ve heard that one before.” I grit my teeth.

Sans looks me over. “I really hate that you just admit to being the one who reset everything.” he narrows his eyes. “Why’d you do it?”

“I didn’t have a choice.” the memories of that day are flooding back to me. I’m not sure which part of it was more haunting, the finishing blow or Sans’s face when he knew I was going to die. I remembered his final words to me that day. “You told me to stay determined.”

He sighed. “What happened?” there was conflict that flickered in his eyes.

I looked back up at him, tears burned my eyes. “I died, you idiot.”

There were a few moments where he had to process those words. When it finally registered his fist slammed on a table, making a significant dent and making some of the papers fly off. “Damnit.” he regained his composure and turned away from me to pace the room.

Seeing Sans like this was unsettling to say the least. My soul wanted nothing but to go to him and hug him. I wanted this to stop. I wanted to run away with him, somewhere that these problems wouldn’t hurt us anymore. Somewhere that resets and determination didn't matter. It could just be the two of us. Of course things where never allowed to be that simple.

The cogs in Sans’s head looked to be working overtime. “That settles it. I can’t leave you alone. Not completely. You’re too much of a danger to yourself.”

I wanted to protest but the last thing I wanted was to set him off again.

“Be ready to go bright and early tomorrow.”

\--

I didn’t sleep much that night. It wasn’t hard to be ready to go that morning, since I had time to shower and dress myself. When Sans came for me, he didn’t look so mad anymore but I could feel a simmering fury just below the surface.

“Good. You’re ready.” he crossed his arms. I’ve never seen him so serious before. “We’re going to the castle today. I’m letting you know now, if you make one wrong move, do anything out of the ordinary for a human it will most likely end in both of our heads on the chopping block.” I flinched. “For once in your life, do exactly everything I say. Got it?”

I nodded. 

So we set off. The walk to the castle was silent. Sans smoked the whole way there. I followed him, not bothering to even stand beside him right now, instead I was just behind him with my head down. When the castle came into view I started feeling tense. One wrong move could get get both of us killed? Yeah, no pressure.

We entered the gates an immediately I felt eyes everywhere. There were guards at every corner. Monsters of all shapes and sizes with armor and weapons were at attention and watching as we went through the front door.

“Stay calm.” Sans mumbles to me. “They’re all tense because there are representatives from the Underground here today. So if you act normal and stay with me they won’t care about you.”  
I took a breath and stepped a little closer to him. 

The hallways were more impressive than the skelebro’s house. The artwork that hung from the walls were of beautiful landscapes. There was a painting of a particularly regal looking goat monster. I could only imagine that was the king considering how fancy he looked. I ran right into Sans while looking at the painting on the ceiling.

He looked back at me, unimpressed. “Pay attention.” 

This would normally be the point where I would give some snappy remark but here in the castle I had to play a part. So I looked down again, “Sorry.”

He nodded. “Good.” I wasn’t sure if he was praising the fact that I said it or the fact that i was playing my part. Either way it didn’t feel good to be treated like an actual slave.

We entered another set of doors and were met by a sight. It was a hell of a sight.

There was the king, behind him was a tense Undyne with a spear in her hand. In front of the king was a slightly smaller version of him. The horns on top of his head weren’t quite as big but they were getting there. It had to be his son? I didn't even know he had a son. He looked kinda awkward trying to talk to Asgore. And behind the king’s son was another human. They were in armor kind of like Undyne’s but with a different sigil. She was older than me and her red eyes were fixated on Undyne. Her hand subtly resting on the sword on her hip. We seemed to have walked in on a very uncomfortable conversation. Were those the underground representatives?

Before Sans could turn us around the king’s gruff but gentle voice called us out. “Oh, Sans, so good of you to join us.”

Sans forces himself to relax before continuing into the room. “S’up your majesty?” he waves casually to him. “Prince Asriel, Princess Chara welcome to the surface.”

I wasn’t sure what to do, so I just stood behind Sans. Asriel and Chara were eyeing Sans before exchanging a look between themselves.

“Sans?” Asriel asked awkwardly. “What an interesting name.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” Chara said flatly. I wasn’t sure if she hated me or if that was just her face but her glare bored into my being.

“Um…” Sans looked a little taken back. “Likewise?”

“My boy…” Asgore gestures to Sans and me. “This is the royal scientists other son, and his human attendant.”

Asriel shifts awkwardly. Chara’s glare hardens and bores into me and Sans.

“Speakin of Gaster, you seen him?” Sans asks, ignoring the looks.

“I do believe he’s in the study.” Asgore smiles. I wasn’t sure what I expected but it definitely wasn’t this from King Asgore. “Son, I do have some business to attend to, you and… Chara, can spend some time exploring the castle. Meet some of the others who are here.”

“Sure… Dad.” he hesitated on the word. “I guess we’ll meet up for dinner.”

Sans and I exited the room and stopped. It was only a few moments later that Undyne barged out.

“Were you guys camping in there?” Sans called out. “Because that was really in-tents.”

Undyne glared back at the skeleton. “Ain’t in the mood for your puns today, loser.”

He just chuckles. “I got a favor to ask of you.”

She turns and narrows her eyes. “I got enough on my plate, bonehead.”

“I just need you to look after this one-” he jabs a thumb in my direction. “While I go talk to Gaster.”

Her eyes shift to me then back to Sans. “Do I look like a damn babysitter?”

Sans’s eyes shift up and down the large hallways. I look with him, feeling like I might catch something he missed. “You’re right. You don’t.” he says in a hushed voice.

Undyne narrows her eyes further and steps closer.

“You look like someone I might could trust. You also look like the kind of lady who can look after a particularly determined human.” Sans pulled me a little closer to him by the arm.

Undyne is silent a moment, trying to contemplate the words. “I expect you to tell me everything later.” she speaks in a hushed voice before grabbing my arm and pulling me forward. “Come on kid.” she talks in a normal voice now. “You’re cutting into my training time.”

I turn back to Sans who had already disappeared somewhere. Undyne drags me down a set of stairs and down a few more hallways before we arrived in what looked like a personal training area. There were plenty of training dummies and workout equipment. The room was devoid of anyone else.

Once the door was closed she started taking off her armor. “You ever had a proper fight before?”

I blinked and thought about my fight with Papyrus. “I don’t… think so.”

“Cool.” she sets her armor aside and tosses me one of her spears. I catch it clumsily. “You’re determined right? Give me your best shot.”

I look down at the glowing spear then to her smirk. “Wait… you’re serious?”

“Hell yeah I am.” she twirls the spear in her hand. “Don’t think that I fell for your whole weak little servant girl act back there. I already know you got balls on you, kid. But don’t worry, I’ll go easy on you.”

“If you insist.” I charge forward. Undyne side steps me and trips me. I look back at her. “I thought you were going easy on me?”

“Hah!” she twirls the spear again. “It’s funny because you think I’m not.”

“Can you teach me a few moves?” I ask excitedly.

“Woah don’t get ahead of yourself. You’re still a wimp.” she chuckles. “First you gotta learn the first rule of fighting.” she holds up her spear.

I hold up my spear too. “What’s that?” my soul glowed a bright red and i felt like i was stuck in a box. I could move but I was limited.

“Face danger head on! With no fear! En garde!” she attacked.

I did my best to counter and dodge, she was fast and her magic was powerful. The spear she gave me did well to block her magic attacks. There was so much I wanted to learn from her but in the middle of our little sparring match the door swung open and there stood Asriel and Chara.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I've been stuck on this chapter for a small eternity. I hope you guys enjoyed it! I really love writing Asriel and Chara. 
> 
> By the way happy Valentines Day!


	10. Trust Me

Sans POV

I watched Undyne drag Frisk off for a moment before turning and teleporting myself to the one part of the castle that even the king doesn’t go. Gaster’s lab. I stood outside the door a moment. I just needed to convince him to let me see his studies on determination. I needed to understand Frisk. I knew she was in danger but just how severe is this? Putting on the face of neutrality, I finally entered the lab.

“There you are Sans.” Gaster immediately turns to me, he looked a bit suspicious.

“Sup Dadster.” I said, calling him the name I knew he always hated to lighten the mood.

His frown deepens. “I expected you here days ago, there better be a good explanation for this.” he spoke curtly. He was in a worse mood then i thought.

“I’ve been trying to look into what happened and if anything changed.” I shrugged. “I decided to come by once the deja vu stopped.”

His eyes narrowed for a second and I could have sworn he was searching my soul but he turned away, seemingly satisfied with that answer. “Anything?”

“Not that I’ve seen.” I lied. “Whoever pulled that reset kept it on the down low.”

“Damn it.” he tapped his long fingers on the desk he was sitting at. “I had hoped it wouldn’t come to this… it may be time to gather all of the humans in the city just to make sure we can weed out whoever this is.”

“I don’t think we should do that.” I spoke a little too quickly.

That suspicious look came back in his glare. “And what exactly would you suggest?”

I had to get my thoughts together quickly. “We wait it out.” I blurted out but managed to sound casual. “Humans stupid enough to pull a reset will always be stupid again.” hopefully not. Not my human at least. “They have our attention.” I emphasized.

“You will have me wait until another reset happens?” he did not sound pleased. “Let them just get away with it?”

“They won’t. Determination makes humans do stupid things.” I faked a sinister grin. “They caught us off guard this time. But not again.”

His fingers clicked on the desk again. “I suppose it’s better than causing a disturbance among our fellow monsters. Not yet.”

“Speaking of which. It’d be nice to see all of your notes on determination. Might help me study resets better.” I pushed a little.

He eyed me curiously. “What is there that you don’t already know? Surely I’ve already taught you what you need to know.”

“Maybe, but I figure maybe a review should be in order.” I leaned on the wall. I knew that Gaster has been paranoid about humans. Always made asking questions harder. 

“Hmph…” he stands and goes to a filing cabinet in the corner of the room. “I expect to hear from you very soon then. I want results.”

“Of course.” i respond quickly. Even less time to be able to think of an option. great.

-

Undyne immediately let go of my soul and I fell backwards.

“What are you two doing down here?” Undyne asks with very little politeness.

Asriel stands up a little straighter. “Oh! Well we were just exploring the castle. Didn’t mean to interrupt!”

“Were you hurting that human?” Chara asks abruptly.

I sit up and use the spear to get up. “We were sparring.” I clarified.

“We weren’t hurting each other.” She smirks. “She hasn’t earned pain yet.”

What? 

Asriel and Chara exchange another look.

“See?” Asriel says. “If they treat this human well maybe there is hope!”

Chara narrows her eyes. “I do not think we should make hasty assumptions.”

Undyne crosses her arms. “What are you all talking about?”

“Mom always described this place as being horrible to humans.” Asriel explains.

“Which is true.” Chara points out.

“Buuuut…” he continues. “This seemed fine. No one was getting hurt! What is your name human?” the goat man looked to me now.

“Frisk. I can’t say that I'm particularly treated great.” I cross my arms. “Undyne and Sans and maybe one or two others are the only monsters that haven’t looked down on me.”

Asriel frowns. “If you aren’t treated well then why are you still here?”

“Sans and Frisk are soulmates.” Chara answers.

I felt my cheeks heat up. “W-well…” How does everyone catch on so quickly? 

Undyne bursts out laughing. “Someone finally said it out loud!”

“Is there something wrong with it?” Chara’s voice sounded much more icy.

I shivered then noticed that their fingers were interlocked. “Are you two…?”

Asriel laughed awkwardly. “Well yeah. We grew up together and one day it finally clicked why we never wanted to be apart from each other.”

“I guess there’s nothing wrong with it but on the surface it’s certainly not looked on very well.” Undyne sighs. “We probably shouldn’t be having this conversation. Come on, you guys have explored my training room enough.” she slips her armor back on and files us all out.

We return to one of the main hallways just in time to see Sans walking down the hallway holding a bag of books. He was being accompanied by…

The demon of my nightmares. A more refined looking version but there was no way i could mistake those blank eyes. This was Gaster?

I step back. The rest of them see what’s startled me and stop as well. Asriel seemed just as unsettled as I was about seeing it. Chara and Undyne both glared.

“This is a device that will help you track determination.” His voice was also not crumpled and filled with static, it was smooth as silk and distinguished. 

I met Sans’s eyes for a split second and there was a moment of panic before he takes the device from him and looks at it, again completely calm. “Cool. How does it work?”

Undyne and Chara look at each other then back at me.

Gaster pushes a button on the top and of it. “This turns it on. After that it should give you a location as to a nearby determined human.”

There’s a few high pitch beeps and then Gaster slowly looks up those darkened eye sockets rested on me. I could see the slightest hint of a purple flare in them.

Sans looks down panicked at the screen. Then looks up to Chara, instantly he relaxes and gives his normal smug smile. “It must be the human princess.”

“What did you call me, skeleton?” Chara seemed to take a little offence to this.

Gaster glared at Chara. “Indeed.”

“It might explain a lot.” Sans says casually. “Looks like we can’t do anything about it.”

“Perhaps.” Gaster examines me once more before turning. “I expect to hear from you again soon, son.”

As soon as the ghoul turned down a different hallway Sans turns off the device and shoves it in his pocket.

“Alright.” Chara marches up to Sans and grabs him by the collar. “What the hell just happened?”

Sans holds his hands up. “No need for things to escalate.” with that Chara starts lifting from the ground. Him and his damn puns.

“Sans!” Undyne calls out. “Come on!”

“Tough crowd.” he lets Chara go and she falls to the ground.

Asriel runs to her to help her up. 

“Frisk, lets go.” Sans calls and I step forward to go to him.

Chara unsheathed her sword and blocked me with it. “Not until I know what you just did.” 

Sans’s eyes flared with blue. “I don’t think you wanna point that at her, buddy.”

She didn’t move.

I could hear bones rattle and I knew that he was about to do something terrible. “Sans! We can trust them!” I call out in a last ditch effort to calm the situation. Maybe just maybe he would listen to me.

He blinks and studies me for a second. The bone rattling stops and he puts his hands in his pockets. “I’ll send for you tomorrow. We’ll talk at my place.”

When Chara still doesn’t move Asriel puts a hand on her shoulder. “It’s going to be okay. We’re safe.”

Her gaze softens as soon as their eyes meet. “Alright.” she sheaths the sword. 

I dash over to Sans and we walk away.

When we exit the castle I glance back before turning to Sans. “Are you okay?”

“Other than almost causing a war over you… doing alright.”

I bite my lip to try and hide my smile. I never had someone care enough to fight for me, much less start a war. It was a new feeling. It made feeling suspicious of him conflicting.

-

Papyrus didn't return from work that day. He sent a message saying that he was needed in the castle and that he might not be back for a couple of days. With that Sans didn't ask anything of me the whole day. I didn't like just standing around. I felt like there was too much on my mind and that air of simmering anger hasn't left him either. I ended up scrubbing the floor to ease my nerves. Which was really dumb but it was all I could think of doing. 

Sans didn’t do a whole lot while I worked. He stared up at the ceiling from the couch until he fell asleep. I didn’t bother him. He did wake up when I finished dinner though. I set up the table for him and stood to the side as I usually did.

He sat at the table then stared at me for a few moments. “What are you doing?”

“Um…” I don’t know what he wanted me to say. “What I always do?”

“Frisk, Papyrus isn’t here.” he kicked a chair out from the table. “Get your food and eat with me.”

“Oh.” I hesitated before going into the kitchen to retrieve the plate of food I set aside for later. When I sat down I realized that I had never sat at this table before, even after the past month and a half. I was so used to eating while standing up, doing things while I ate. It felt off.

“You gonna eat or just stare at the food, sweetheart?” Sans’s voice took me out of my thoughts.

“Oh, right.” I picked up my fork and started eating.

“Ya know you’ve been pretty tame for the past few days.” he didn’t take his eyes off of me.

I glared at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’ve been doing everything that Papyrus said perfectly and you haven’t even relaxed despite Paps not being here. Is that just the reset or are you actually turning into a good human?” he pushed aside the vegetables on his plate and kept his eyes on me.

“I would think what happened last night would answer that question.” I didn’t stop glaring.

He frowned. “Ya know, you never told me what happened before the reset. I’d like it if you talked to me about it.”

I looked away from him and stabbed a few green beans onto my fork. “You should eat more of the vegetables on your plate.” 

He studied me. “Was it that bad?”

I glared at him again. “Sans I want to tell you everything but if it’s because you’re studying me I won’t tell you.”

“What?” he shook his head. “Any information I have can only help you. Why hold back now?”

“Because I’m a slave.”

He’s silent for a long moment. “Yeah. You are. It’s the one thing that keeps you in good graces with the monsters.”

“So would you have me be a slave all the time, Sans?” I just stared at my plate, unable to stand any of this anymore. “Should I only speak when spoken to? Walk behind you waiting for your next command? Be the perfect slave i was taught to be my whole life?”

“I…” he stops and contemplates his words. “What matters is that you need to trust me.”

“Trust you? You keep things from me.” I do my best to stay where I am. All i want to do is run off to my room but I want to hear what he has to say.

He’s quiet. “The reset… it really put you and a lot of other humans in danger. I’m doing all I can to keep Gaster from taking pretty much every human in the city. The closer you stay to me the less danger you’re in right now. I don’t know who or what killed you before the reset but I have every intention of protecting you from that.”

I didn’t expect him to open up about this. I reached my hand across the table to his. “We can protect each other.” i still didn’t have the heart to tell him who killed me.

He squeezed my hand. “You’re getting all mushy gushy with me, sweetheart.” he winked.

I relaxed. Sans being here and us working together is all I really wanted. I am filled with determination.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I'm sorry this is coming out late! I've been way too busy the last couple of days. Hopefully this won't happen again.


	11. Sending A Message

“Remember what you’re supposed to say?” he asked me as I laced my boots.

“Welcome Prince Asriel to the surface, Sans the skeleton invites you to dine with him this evening. It would be an honor for you to join him.” I say for the sixth time this morning. “Do I have to act so formal with them?”

“Yes. You don’t know who might be listening in the castle. If you get caught acting like that to anyone, especially without me around, you could get in serious trouble. All you have to do is say that and leave.” he leans on the back of the couch. “Just make sure to avoid Gaster. If you see him, then go the other way, act like you never seen him.”

I gulped. The thought of running into that skeletal demon made me nervous. “Right…” I stood up and opened the door. “I’ll be back.”

“Frisk.” Sans calls out to me before I close the door. “Stay out of trouble. You want me to trust you, right? Please… just stay out of trouble.”

I give him a half smile and start going. Sans opens the gate for me from the house and I’m on the streets. When I first arrived here I could have taken this chance to run away from here. Now I couldn’t even think about leaving Sans. I dashed across the city to the castle. I told the guards at the gate that I was here to deliver a message and they let me in.

Once inside the castle I started my search for Asriel and Chara. The castle was huge. It seemed much bigger now that I was alone. I would sneak from one door to the next to see if anyone was inside, for the most part there was nothing, occasionally I would see a maid cleaning but nothing else. I wandered down halls feeling hyper alert. Gaster could be around any corner and I felt like meeting up with him would be a death sentence. 

I walked into one door and froze. Asgore was standing by the window sill watering some flowers. He noticed the sound of the door opening and our eyes met. 

“I-I’m sorry- I- Um-” I fumbled over my words which made him chuckle lightly.

“Come in, child.” he had a soft smile on his face. “Make sure to shut the door. My advisors don’t know I’m in here.”

I didn’t feel like I could say no to the king. Quickly I walked in and shut the door behind me. My heart raced, unsure of what to do now that I’ve been caught by the king. Now that I was in here I realized the walls were lined with flowers, it made the room smell very sweet.

“You must forgive me, child. I know we met yesterday but I never caught your name.” he set down the watering container.

“F-Frisk.” I gulped. 

“Frisk?” his face only brightened, which was confusing. “That is a lovely name.”

“Thank you.” a smile tugged at the corner of my mouth then remembered. “Your majesty! Thank you, your majesty!” I corrected.

He gestured to the flowers. “What do you think about this? It’s my favorite room in the castle.”

“Um… It’s lovely in here, your majesty.” I spoke cautiously with him, he was the king after all, the one who subjugated humanity after winning the war. He had a fearsome reputation and ruled with an iron fist. Yet what stood in front of me was really just a kind gardener. It was very confusing and suspicious to me.

“I could tell when we met yesterday that you’d probably like it too.” he sighed happily. “So what brings you to the castle today, Frisk?”

“Oh… I’m here to give an invitation for dinner to Asriel and Chara.” I didn’t move away from the door. The second I saw an opportunity to get out, I’m was going to taking it.

“How wonderful!” he smiled. “Sans made friends with them. I’ve been saying that if they could see how a traditional household in this kingdom ran they would understand that the relationship between monsters and humans was not so bad.”

I blinked. “What do you mean by that?” there was a slight edge in my voice.

“Well that humans need monsters.” he spoke casually, as though talking about the weather. “Science has shown humans away from monsters just go mad. They can’t run their lives properly.” he chuckled lightly. “I’m sure these are all things you already know. I can tell that Sans is a good owner.”

I could feel my blood run boiling hot as I clenched my fist. Science, eh? _Gaster_. This is what he’s convinced the world is true. 

“Are you okay, Frisk? You look a little sick.” Asgore frowns and takes a step forward.

“I’m fine. I think I should just be on my way. I can’t keep my _master_ waiting.” I didn’t wait for his response, I swung the door open and ran out.

Memories of school filled my head. They taught that all the time, humans and monsters could never be separate, humans needed monsters to survive. Well why not? I didn’t want it to be true, but for a few moments I thought about if it was true or not. It made all of my fighting in school and with Papyrus feel… futile. 

I stopped in the corridor and leaned on the wall. School did it’s job well when it came to conditioning everyone. I could always see the moment all of my friends gave up and accepted their fate. One after the other. It was really lonely when they left.

I suddenly felt my heart thump heavily in my chest. No. Now was not the time to give up. I felt a rush of determination as I pushed myself off the wall. 

I wandered the halls for a few more minutes before finally catching sight of the two of them. I breathed a sigh of relief and ran over to them.

Chara was the first to notice me. Her red eyes watched me steadily. Asriel, on the other hand looked happy to see me.

“Frisk! We were wondering when we’d see you again!” he greeted cheerfully.

I half smiled. “Hey… um… hold on.” I cleared my throat. “Welcome Prince Asriel to the surface.” I bowed deeply. “Sans the skeleton invites you to... eat with him this evening. It would be an honor if you joined him in… this… eating.” I straightened again. I forgot my line halfway through. This felt so stupid.

“Um…” Asriel looked at me strangely. “Why are you saying it like that?”

“I…” my cheeks heat up with embarrassment. “I’m trying to be formal.”

“Oh!” Asriel bowed back to me. “We graciously accept!”

“Sure.” Chara said flatly. I can never get a read on her.

“O-okay. I will… inform Sans of this… good development.” I chewed on my lip, trying to remember if there was something else. “See you two tonight.” I ran off.

Asriel waved as I left, Chara stood and watched until I was out of sight.

Again I was stuck wandering the halls. Why did this place have to be so big? 

I turned another corner and ran into someone. Quickly I stumbled back and ended up falling flat on my back. “Ow…” I rubbed my head and looked up to who I ran into.

“Oh… it’s you.” Gaster’s scarred ghoulish face looked down at me with disdain.

“I-I’m…” I fumbled all over myself to get up. “So-sorry. Um…” I looked around.

“Aren’t you a properly trained slave?” he jerked me up so I was standing straight. “Never look your superiors in the face.” he forced my head down so I was looking at my feet.

Adrenaline spiked through my veins, there was nothing I wanted more then to punch him in his smug face. At the same time I was terrified. It felt like he was probably the only monster that hated humanity more than Papyrus. He could hurt me and not even Sans could help me.

“And you don’t even apologize?” he slapped the back of my head. 

“Sorry!” I blurt out. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not very good. I’ll have to talk to your master about his choice in humans later.” he turned. “Follow me.” he commanded.

I gulped and followed. I knew I couldn’t run from him, he knew this castle better than me. If I saw an opening, I might try to escape though.

We walked in silence for a while. I didn’t dare look up from the floor. 

He stopped and so did I. “The way out is just down this way. Since I’m sure you’re going back to him, take this letter.”

“Th-Thank you.” I took the envelope from him and started walking away.

“Also…” his word made me freeze. “Don’t think you’re fooling me, Frisk.” he turned again and strode away.

I looked up at him as he left before I ran out. My heart pounded hard. He scares me more than the thought of dying again.

I slowed down when i entered the gate to go home again. Sans opened the door for me. Quickly I stepped in and leaned over with my hands on my knees, all that running had my out of breath.

“How’d it go?” he asked anxiously.

“I did it. They will be here tonight.” slowly i stood up again.

Sans nodded. “Okay good.”

I dug the envelope out of my pocket and held it out to him. 

He narrowed his eyes at it. “Who gave it to you?”

I looked away from him, not wanting to answer.

He sighed and took the letter. “Did he do anything to you?”

“No.” i lied softly. I didn't need to worry him further.

“I guess it was too much to ask that you didn’t run into him.” he shoved the letter in his pocket now. “He’s on high alert, he probably had the other humans let him know when you arrived.”

It was another few hours before Asriel and Chara were going to arrive. Sans insisted I didn’t work. Instead he had me sit with him to watch TV. it was peaceful. He threw his arm around me and at some point fell asleep. While he slept I ended up watching Mettaton’s new soap opera. It was very confusing. There was something about Mettaton being lost at sea for years only to come back to his… wife(also played by him) sleeping with his ‘less attractive’ twin(played… by him again)?

There was finally a knock at the door that woke Sans up. I immediately jumped up to answer it. There stood our guests for the evening.

“Hello!” Asriel greeted. 

I stepped aside for the two of them to come in. 

“Hey-ya.” Sans said with a stretch. “I’ll order pizza while we talk.”

I sat back down with the royal couple while he called.

When he sits down again he looks very serious. “So I’m gonna jump into business since it’s such a bother.”

“What did you accuse me of yesterday?” Chara’s normal stoic voice had an edge.

“I accused you of having determination. Not the feeling, i don’t know how much they teach about it in the underground.” Sans shifts. “It’s something very dangerous on the surface.”

“You accused me of being a threat?” the edge in her voice sharpens. 

“Something like that. Not like the Gaster can do anything about it unless you attack the king. Asgore wouldn’t dare make this experience anything less than pleasant for you.” he explained.

“I mean…” Asriel looked worried now. “I don’t want to put her in any danger either.”

“I’m not going to put Frisk in danger either. You have power here, she doesn’t.” he leans back on the chair. “If I had told Gaster the truth, she would have been locked up immediately. A slave with determination can be taken and sent to my dad’s lab.”

All eyes were on me now. Chara’s glare paired with Asriel’s look of concern made me feel twitchy.

“She should come back with us.” Chara’s glare stayed on me.

Sans was silent.

“Yeah we can take her with us when we leave in a week. It wouldn’t be hard to do it unnoticed, I don’t think.” Asriel nodded in agreement.

I thought back to what Asgore was saying. Humans need monsters? Do I need Sans, soulmate or not? How can I love something I have to be dependent on? I was filled with determination as I spoke."I'll go."

"No. You won't."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: *says I won't be late again*  
> Next week: *is VERY late*
> 
> sorry about that guys.


	12. Choices

I couldn’t believe what just came out of Sans’s mouth. “What?” I barely managed to get out of my mouth.

He turned his skull to me with a hard look but didn’t say anything before Asriel spoke. “Perhaps we will talk about it closer to the time when we leave.” he waved his hands a little to try and make the situation less tense.

Sans didn’t bother replying.

I just nodded. This conversation wasn't over.

After that the night went on much more smooth. Things cooled down and we managed to have a good evening. They ended up talking about the underground, it sounded like a fairytale land to me. Humans ran businesses, the city thrived on magic, the queen even felt safe enough to walk about the streets without any guards with her, just to visit the people. The king never even left his castle as far as I knew on the surface.

There was, however, an underlying tension between me and Sans. I made sure to sit farther away from him when I could. I hated being reminded that I was a slave and him telling me I ‘won’t go’ is one big slap in the face. 

Chara seemed to pick up on it and soon began sitting between us, much to Asriel’s confusion. When the end of the night came and I shut the door I took a moment to breath before turning to him. There he was, standing in the middle of the room with his hands in his pockets and an unlit cigarette in his mouth. He has the audacity to think he’s done nothing wrong.

“What’s that look for?” he asks.

“Don’t act like you don’t know.” I roll my eyes.

He shrugs dramatically, seemingly insulted that I’m pushing back.

“Come on if there’s something you’re mad about, just tell me.” he takes the cigarette out of his mouth and stepped forward. _Oh now he wants to care?_

 _The nerve!_ I took a step back. “So you’re not going to let me leave, hm?”

“Oh.” he sighed. “Frisk… I can protect you. You don’t need to go to the Underground.” he tried to sound reassuring.

I roll my eyes again and mumble to myself. “How are you supposed to be my soulmate again?”

“What did you say?” he stepped forward again.

“Nothing. I’m going to bed.” I walk past him.

“Wait.” he grabs my wrist. “Talk to me. Please.”

I snatch my wrist away and turn. “You know, I’m getting really sick of you treating me like an equal one minute and the next treating me like a slave.” I cross my arms.

Sans stares down at me, shocked. 

“You can’t have both.” I speak again after a long silence. “I’m either your soulmate or your slave.”

He blinked. “So you do know.” he takes a breath. “Come outside with me, Paps will kill me if I smoke in here.” he turned to go for the door.

After a moment’s hesitation I decide to follow him. I wanted to hear I put on my shoes and a coat and walk out as he holds the door open for me.

Immediately he takes out his lighter and lights his cigarette. The smoke curls around his face for a moment before a breeze takes it away. “How long have you known?” he asks plainly.

I lean on the house and stare at the ground. “Technically I’ve known since before the reset. Remember the morning you came to heal my wounds? We talked about it that night.” there was a pain in my chest. “We were really happy about it.”

He nodded. “Ya know, it took me a little bit to figure it out. The way I felt around you was too… comfortable. The night Papyrus put you outside was when I could barely take it. I _had_ to protect you.” he took a drag. “I’ve never felt like that towards anything. The more I looked into this whole soulmate business the more I realized what was going on. I was going to tell you sooner.”

I looked up at him. He was looking up into the night sky. “Why didn’t you?”

He laughs. “Sweetheart, do you know how many times I had run through how I was going to tell you? Its not like confessing feelings for ya. Soulmates are forever. Completely different conversation.”

I laughed a little. “Point taken.”

“I was going to tell you the day you went out with Papyrus. When he told me that you took off I almost wanted to kill him.” he shook his head. “I’ve never even wanted to fight my own brother before, no matter how mad I’ve gotten at him. Somehow I restrained myself and so i could start focusing on finding you. I called in Vic to help. I guess you know the story from there.”

I stepped closer to him, ignoring the smell of smoke. “Why didn’t you say anything the day I got back? Like in the previous timeline?” 

Finally he looks at me. “Because of the reset. The moment you had returned I was alerted, then you screamed. Then you were acting strange, like it had... happened before.” he fully faced me now. “You know… I would have let you kiss me, some part of me hoped you would.” there was a tinge of color on his cheeks, I could feel mine heat up a little too. “I realized something though.” a sad look crossed him now and he took another puff. “I realized how close I am to losing you.”

I quickly wrapped my arms around him. “You aren’t losing me.”

I feel his arms around me in an instant. “I’m sorry, Frisk. I’ve been selfish with you haven’t I?”

“I know you just want to protect me.” I reassured.

“What do you want to do?” he pulls away and looks me in the eyes. “Do you want to leave?”

I stare at him for a moment. “Come with me. I want you to go too.”

His head hung and I could practically feel his fear and his sorrow. “I can’t.”

Then came my own heartbreak. “Why?”

He sighed and went to open the door again. I follow him inside. He goes and leans on the back of the couch.

“It’s one thing if you disappear, hell, I could find a way to fake your death if we wanted to go that far. I’m a different story. I’m the son of the Royal scientist, brother to a high ranking member of the royal guard, if I up and disappeared I would be noticed immediately. Even if I had left a note, the research I’ve been doing would get into Gaster’s hands, and he would know I've been covering up for you.” 

“Who cares?” I throw my coat and shoes off and barge up to him. “Once we get out of this hellhole of a city we’ll just disappear. We can change our names, we can - i can change my hair, we can -”

Sans put a finger to my lips, putting a stop to my well devised plan. “If it were that simple we would already be gone.” he chuckled. “Were about to suggest I change my _flawless_ hair?” he ran his fingers on the top of his bare skull.

I roll my eyes with a small smile on my face. “Not the point. Would Gaster really try to hunt us down?”

“The last time a colleague of his, Jim, I think was his name, betrayed him… well I’ll spare you the gory details but lets just say he wasn’t heard from again. I really don’t want to figure out what he would do to his own son.”

I felt my eyes widen. “...To you? But-” 

“Yeah I know.” his tone was grim. “I wouldn’t exactly call him Dad of the year either.”

A flood of emotion came at me. I felt furious that Gaster could be so cruel to him, but mostly I felt despair that if I left… i would be going alone. I reached my arms around him again and buried my face in his ribs. “I don’t want to leave you though.”

One arm wrapped around my waist and his other hand began stroking my hair gently. “I wouldn’t be forever. It would take time, I’d have to cover my trail really well but I would find you again.”

I sniffled and the familiar sting of tears burned my eyes. “How long would it take?”

“I don’t know. I could figure a way in a week, but it could take years.” he said sadly.

“Noo…” I sobbed, feeling helpless to the whole situation. 

“Trust me, sweetheart. I know.” he held me a little tighter. “I don’t want you to go, I’ll admit.” he sighs. “But I know you don't want to be a slave. I can’t keep treating you like it. I will respect your choices.”

I sob again. “You tell me that after saying all that bad shit?” I grip onto his shirt. “You bonehead.”

He doesn't say anything, instead he just keep stroking my hair and rubs my back. Occasionally he’ll whisper that it’ll be okay. It all helped me start calming down after a few minutes I’m able to pull away and wipe my face of all the tears. 

“What do you think, sweetheart?” he asks gently.

"I don't know. I want to think about it." I sigh.

He nods and checks the clock. “It’s getting late, lets get to bed.”

We go upstairs and I go to my attic after saying goodnight. I had just changed and laid down in my own bed when a thought came to me. Immediately with a surge of newfound bravery, I got up and stomped down to his room.

I swung the door open to see him having already changed into a pair or black pajama pants and no shirt. He gave me a confused look. “Something wrong?”

My sudden bravery seemed to fall flat as soon as I saw this. My face heat up again. “I-I figured that since I might be leaving in a week… and um… Papyrus isn’t here th-that… I’m gonna sleep with you.” I forced out.

To my surprise his face lit up too. “Y-you’re gonna what?”

“Wait…” I waved my hands frantically. “N-not like thatnotlikethat! I just… want to be in the same bed. I want to…” I didn’t think my face could burn this much. “I want to be with my soulmate.”

He relaxed and a soft smile appeared on his face. “I think that’s a great idea, sweetheart.”

We both climbed into his bed and i cuddled close to him. He gladly accepted this.

“Goodnight, sweetheart.”


	13. To The Underground

I woke the next morning feeling warm. I was comfortable with Sans’s arm lazily draped across my waist. I slowly opened my eyes, looking behind me I saw that he was still asleep. There was no way I wanted to disturb him when he looked so peaceful. I looked around the room. Looks like he’s already started making a mess of the place. 

Then I looked down at his hand that was resting on my stomach. Gently, I picked it up. The hole in his palm seemed to almost overtake his entire hand. It was a wonder that he was able to hold anything. I traced the circle for a few moments before his hand moved and took mine softly. 

He took my hand and gave it a kiss. “Morning, sweetheart.” he greets groggily.

“Morning.” I return with a smile.

The next few days are lovely, in my opinion. Papyrus only stopped by the house once to pick something of his up but ended up going straight back to the castle. He said it was very important for him to be there while their important guests are visiting. I had to hold myself back from laughing when he made a comment about how they saw him as very impressive. It earned me a death glare. Other than that it was just me and Sans.

He would disappear into his lab for a few hours. He said that he had a few things to look over. I had full access to the library upstairs in that time. Since Sans wasn’t making me clean or anything I had a lot of free time which I gladly indulged in. Not every book was super interesting, some of them were science that went completely over my head and some of them were art books. Then I found an old classic, from before the war. Pride and Prejudice by someone named Jane Austen. I started reading it and it took me a few chapters to get used to the writing style but I enjoyed it. It was rather surprising that either of them would enjoy a book like this. Do they know it’s in the library? 

Relaxing and being with Sans in the evenings was good. We didn’t feel constrained to act like we don’t care about each other. The question was still in the air though. Every time we looked at each other, when we woke up together, when we sat each other.

Am I leaving?

Just as Sans had turned to light off for us to go to sleep I turned to face him. There was very little light in the room but i could see the slight glow of his eyes. “Something on your mind, sweetheart?”

“I have a question.” I spoke quietly.

He moved a few strands of hair out of my face. “Ask away.”

“Can you tell me more about soulmates?”

He shifted so that his head was propped on his hand. “What else do you want to know?”

“Well…” I hesitated. “You said once before that ‘fate ties a string’ between the two souls. I was wondering what that really meant.”

“Hmm…” he stared at me as he pondered. “Well… like I've said before, not a lot of solid facts are known about it. It’s just known that they start needing each other. I suppose that can show itself in a different ways.”

“Do you… need me?” i felt more timid than I liked.

He chuckles and pulls me close. “What kind of question is that? Of course I do. It’s why I want to protect you so bad.” he kisses the top of my head.

“I need you too. It scares me.” I admitted.

“What makes it scary?” 

“I’ve never needed anything before like this.” I bite my lip, deciding I should explain myself. “Growing up, I had friends. It was the only family we could get in the school. We all made a deal that we would try not to get sold, we would all find a way out of that place, we were young. Over the years I watched as they eventually broke under the pressure of the teachers. The teachers were really good at brainwashing us. I watched all of them be sold year by year until I was the last one left. I had to learn to be alone.” I clung to him tightly. “I couldn’t let myself need anyone or anything. Now that I need you…” i grit my teeth, trying to push back tears. I didn’t want to cry again but this feeling of impending loss was too much.

He held me just as fiercely. “I understand. Truly, I do.” he ran his fingers through my hair while he spoke. “Some of my first memories are in a lab with my brother. Gaster home-schooled us. Well… more like isolated us. I didn’t see anyone outside of him and my brother until I was at twelve. In that time he drilled us on how to use our magic, academics, self defense. There were days we thought he was gonna kill us. The only comfort we had was with each other most of the time. As we grew up he found that Papyrus had an affinity for fighting and I for academics. That’s when he separated us, made him join the military and eventually the royal guard. I stayed behind to help Gaster with his research. When Paps got back he was different. He was cold, cruel.” Sans sigh. “I never let myself get close to anyone, not even my brother anymore. I don’t want to lose you.”

I bit my lip as an attempt to stop the tears. “Why can’t you just leave with me?” my voice wavered.

“You know why.” he tried to be comforting but I could feel his despair.

I took a few deep breaths before sitting up. “Th-then I want...” I pat the middle of my chest. “I want to be completely yours. No matter what.”

He stares at me for a moment before sitting up. “I don’t think you know what your asking for.”

“I know I want to bond with you before I leave.” my face heat up. “I want you to know I love you. And I want to know that you love me.”

“Sweetheart…” he gulps and I feel my soul summoned forth. The dark room is lit up slightly by a red hue. For a minute he just stared at it, watching the shades of red dance and flare in the heart. Then he summoned his soul forward, its light wasn’t as bright as mine but it felt intense. Cracks of blue, some of them were dark enough to look purple. “I want this so much, Frisk.” he leaned his forehead on mine, slowly turning into a kiss. The room lit up brighter with our colors.

He parted from me and sat back. “I can’t do that to you.”

I opened my eyes. “What? Why?” I hang on to his shoulders. “I want this.”

“I know you do. Hell, I want it too.” he gently pushed my soul back into my chest. “It could be dangerous right now. If something happens to me… it’ll hurt you too. If I die…”

“Stop.” I said firmly. “Don’t talk like that. You aren’t going to die. We’re going to make it. I’ll reset this whole world before I let that happen.”

He laughed softly. “So stubborn. Next time we see each other… that I can promise.”

\---

The arrangements had been made, the date set. This was the final morning i would spend with Sans for a while. We sat in silence at the table. Neither of us could eat, both of us felt too nervous. 

I felt angry and terrified. Sans looked resigned to the situation. I took his hand. “It won’t be forever, right?”

He blinks and stares at my hand. “Hell no.” he squeezes it. “Absolutely not.”

I nod. “We need to try and write to each other.” 

He also nods, “First, we get you to the Underground. Anything else can be figured out once you’re safe.”

There was a knock on the door. Sans was up first to open the door. Vic was there. He was quickly let in.

“Are you ready to go, Frisk?” he asked as soon as the door shut.

“Yeah.” I stood. The air was heavy around me. I’ve never had to leave something so important behind before. I’ve never had something important before though, so this felt like leaving all of the good in the world behind. 

“Aren’t you bringing anything else?” he asked, glancing at my one small, barely filled, backpack.

I shrug. “I can’t fit a skeleton in it. This is all i got besides that.” I glance to Sans.

A small grin on his face, “I would weigh a skele-ton, sweetheart.” he winks.

Vic rolls his eyes. “Alright, lovebirds, if we’re still doing this we need to go now.”

I nodded and jumped into Sans’s arms for one last embrace and a kiss. We held onto each other for a few moments.

“I’ll see you soon, sweetheart.” he whispered in my ear.

“I better.” I squeezed onto him once more before pulling away and following Vic out the door.

It took all my strength to not look back. 

We went across town to the little antique shop. The shop was still empty, save for Gerson who looked to be dusting some of the shelves. The turtle turned to us. “Ah, Frisk, I almost didn’t recognize you. You look so much better without the black and blue.” he chuckled.

“Nice to see you again too.” I greeted awkwardly.

“I’m making a special run, Gerson. Should be back by tomorrow.” Vic didn’t stop walking towards the back of the store. I followed him.

“Don’t forget to take that envelope! The queen has been expecting it.” he called out.

“Yeah yeah…”

Vic shut us in the backroom again. I looked around nervously, the room hadn’t changed much since the last time I was here.

“How much magic do you know, kid?” he asked quickly.

“A-a little. It’s not like I’ve been able to practice.” I shrug.

He sighs, “Right… well, it’s better than nothing. Not a lot of humans can use it anymore.” he reaches behind some old boxes and pulls out a pistol and some ammunition. “I can’t guarantee your complete safety on this trip. If you have to, use your magic and don’t hold back. Never go down without a fight.” he looked at me while he loaded the gun.

My anxiety spiked but it was swiftly replaced with determination. I gave him a nod.

“I like the look in your eye, kid. Don’t let them take that from you.” he finished loading it and put in on the holster. “Let’s go.”

He stomped on a floorboard, a few loose boards were moved aside and we jumped under the shop. There was a dark tunnel that led us forward. Vic took out a flashlight.

“What is this?” I asked, trying to see as far ahead as I could.

“Smuggler’s tunnels. They’re all around the city.” he led the way. “It’s a whole damn labyrinth down here so stick with me. One wrong move and you probably won’t find your way back out.”

“R-right.” I trotted a little closer to him, making sure to keep an eye on where he was at all times.

It was a while with us in silence. “So…” I started. “Are you ever going to tell me?”

I saw an eyebrow twitch. “Tell you what?”

“How the war ended.” I looked up to see his face scrunch in… pain? Then it looked like he was considering something.

We stopped. “Let’s take a break for a few minutes.” he carefully sat himself down on the dirt.

I followed suit. 

“I’ll make a deal with you, you take this-” he held out a big yellow envelope to me, “To the queen of the underground for me and I’ll tell you what I know about the war.”

I didn’t hesitate in taking it from him. “Done and done.” I slipped my backpack off and shoved it in.”

He chuckled. “Alright then. I’ll tell you all I can about it. The war was always pretty divisive. As a human, you were either on the side of the humans or you were a traitor. No exceptions. It went on for years. I remember joining the fight as soon as they’d let me. I was ready to fight for my people, for humanity. Ya see, back then, humans were a force to be reckoned with. Not only did we have weapons, we had magic, and we had determination. Hell, we had monsters on our side. Gerson was one of them. He was a spy. We knew that if the monsters won terrible things were going to happen. The more people realized that, the more monsters we had on our side. It was crazy. We had soldiers that we were shooting at just the day before wanting to join our side.” he sighed.

“If you had all of that, how could we have lost?” I leaned forward.

He shook his head. “The day the void broke open was what happened. I don’t know what form of magic it was, or what… I’ll never forget looking up and seeing the complete nothingness of that void staring back at us. A few days after that we got reports that Asgore got some new general, Gaster, and he was building some machine. From there we started losing. Whole companies of people were laid flat on the ground. They weren’t dead though. It was like the life had been taken from their soul. All of their determination had been taken. I don’t know what that bastard had done to them but no matter what we did, we kept losing. There’s a small group of humans and monsters left who are still trying to uncover those secrets. We’ve even gotten Sans’s help a couple of times. Gaster keeps those secrets locked up tight. I can’t really say more than that. That’s all I got.” he stood up again. “Come on kid.”

The rest of the trip through the tunnels was silent.

\----

It was hours later before we reached the surface again. The tunnel had led us outside of the city. Way outside the city. The fresh cold breeze was a welcome after going through those tunnels. Night had already begun, the stars were out and the moon hung brightly in the sky. 

I looked around, the twinkling city lights and the tall towers of the castle were miles behind us. We were on the outskirts of a forest. I marveled at the trees, the fresh snow, the open sky. All of these things weren’t new really. But i had never seen anything outside the city. A wide smile overtook my cold cheeks and i laughed. I couldn’t help myself as i fell to the snow covered floor.

Vic gave a warm smile. “Enjoy your freedom, kid.”

I looked up at him. “Do you ever get used to it?”

He laughs too and takes a deep breath. “Not really. It will always feel good being outside of that damn city.” he clears his throat. “Come on, we gotta make it to the checkpoint. Once we get there, we’ll be meeting up with Asriel and Chara.”

I got up and we started into the dark forest. I didn’t think a bunch of trees would freak me out so much. It always looked like someone was reaching out for us and it made shapes that I could have sworn were something coming for us.

“Relax kid, I haven’t seen wolves or cougars in these parts for years.” Vic reassured but honestly that didn’t help at all. It was another couple of hours before we reached this checkpoint. It was old looking house.

We went inside. It was very cozy, ready for people to stay the night. There was some food in the cabinets and a nice shower to wash off the dirt and grime of travel. I really appreciated that.

“Get some sleep, kid. Your friends should be here in the morning.” Vic was already stretching out on the couch in the front room.

I didn’t argue with him. My legs hurt from all of the walking we had done and some sleep sounded great.

I took the bedroom closest to the main room and fell asleep. My dreams, filled with Sans. 

I wish he was here.

\----

The next morning I awoke to the sound of banging on the door. I got up and peered around the corner to see who it was. Vic opened the door to Asriel and Chara.

“Can we come in?” Asriel asked politely.

“Of course.” Vic had obviously only just woken up too. He opened the door for the two.

Quickly I changed and went out to greet them.

“Howdy Frisk!” Asriel cheerfully welcomed. 

“Hey.” I smiled. 

We all sat down for a meal. Chara didn’t bother sitting down with us. She insisted on standing by one of the windows as lookout. We didn’t spend a lot of time here. We were getting ready to leave when Chara shushed all of us.

“There are people coming.” she reported.

Vic cursed. “How many?”

“Looks like it’s only a few. They’re probably just scouts.” Chara’s hand was on her sword. “We need to get out now.”

I turned to Vic. “Are you going to be okay?” I asked worried. The last thing I wanted was to get him captured or killed. 

He smirked. “This isn’t my first rodeo, kid. Hurry and go with them. I’ll sneak out the back.”

“Stay safe out there.” I ran out with Chara close behind.

There were two horses waiting.

“You ride with me.” Chara jumped on the back of her horse and held a hand out for me. I took her hand and she heaved me on the horse. It took me a moment to adjust but I sat behind her.

“You two ready?” Asriel asked.

We both sent a thumbs up.

“Hold on to me tight.” Chara warned.

I did as she said and soon the horses were running down the path. I didnt dare look back. In fact I didn’t even open my eyes. I felt the cold air whip on my face and the horse gallop forward. Adrenaline pumped through my veins as we raced forward

“You think they’re still following?” Asriel called out.

I felt Chara turn her head. “We’re good for now.” the horses slowed down to a steady trot.

I finally opened my eyes again. We were starting to exit the forest and before us was the mountains. “Wow.” was all I could say.

Asriel laughed. “Just wait until we get home. It’ll be a few hours.”

“... you don’t have to hold on so tightly anymore.” Chara commented.

I let go. “Sorry!”

The mountains were so big. It’s one thing to see them from the city, its another thing to see them right in front of you. I’ve been free for 24 hours and the most amazing things I’ve seen so far are trees and big rocks. 

We chatted idly as we rode through the paths in the mountains. The talked about their stay with Asgore. It sounded like it was pleasant but uncomfortable.

“Did you guys ever interact with Gaster while you were there?” I asked.

“We avoided him as much as possible.” Chara replied.

“He freaked us out. Whatever’s up with that guy, it’s no good.” Asriel shivered.

I remembered the story Vic told me. “Yeah. I agree.”

Finally we found the entrance to the Underground. There were two guards at the door. Two dogs, both holding big axes.

“Your majesties!” they said in unison and dropped to one knee.

“Relax you guys.” Asriel pat both of their heads and their tails wagged.

They stood up again and their eyes looked on me. “Who that?” they sniffed at me.

I stiffened. The dog monsters seemed friendly enough but one look at those big axes reminded me that they could totally rip me apart.

“A new guest.” Asriel put an arm around me. “This is Frisk.”

“Frisk.” they repeated and approached, still sniffing.

Still a bit intimidated, i wash lightly pushed forward. 

“Um… what are your names?” i reached up and pet their heads too.

Immediately they warmed up to me and wagged their tails. “Dogamy and Dogaressa.” they introduced.

I love these sweet dogs.

“Back to your duties.” Chara said.

“Yes captain!” they stood up straight again and opened the door for us.

Slowly the thick stone doors opened and I was escorted inside. It was pretty empty as we went down the hallways. Another stone door had to be opened and it looked like we were back outside. It was snowy, cold, and before me stood two skeletons.

I stood frozen with wide eyes. There's no way...

“WELCOME BACK YOUR MAJESTIES!” the tall skeleton in armor looked to me. “OH! A NEW HUMAN! WELCOME TO THE UNDERGROUND! I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS!” he bowed.

The shorter skeleton in a blue hoodie held out a hand to me. “yeah, what my brother said. the names sans, sans the skeleton.” his smile was wider and there were no holes in his hands, nor were there scars on either of their faces. But they were the same. They even felt the same.

“Wha.... I don’t…” I felt light-headed.

“woah kid,” sans looked a little concerned. “you look a little… faint.”

My balance gone, I fell to the ground and passed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still here! How'd you guys like that twist. I've been holding onto it forEVER!


	14. Aren't Things Supposed To Get Better Now?

Sans POV

The silence is the worst part. There was always something when she was around. The sound of her bare feet on the hard floor, the soft sound of a page turning, her voice. _Stars, her voice._

No there was nothing.

I spent hours just sitting outside, hoping my smokes would clear my skull. All that did was make me feel nauseous. When i finally went back inside I slammed the door behind me. Sitting on the couch again and tapping my fingertips together, I started forming a plan. Though my thoughts were halted by the sight of an envelope on the table. Right… Gaster. It was unavoidable, if I didn’t read it now he’d start bugging me.

So I opened it.

"Sans, at your earliest convenience I need you to send your human to my lab. I am performing an experiment and need a human with some form of determination. Don’t keep me waiting."

_Shit._

I shoved the letter back into the envelope and threw it back on the table. There wasn’t even a plan yet and I felt like I already needed a plan B. 

Of course this is what the letter was about. Nothing ever goes smoothly. I had about a few days to start covering for myself and Frisk. Papyrus will be back tonight and he probably won’t ignore her being gone. A few days until Gaster knows and start pulling strings. With a sigh I finally get up. I’ve never looked forward to organizing anything. And I still don’t. 

Maybe, just maybe, I can force this to work. 

I go to the kitchen and take out a bottle of whiskey from the top cabinet before going down to my lab.

“Cheers… to love.” I flick the top off and drink.

\----

Frisk’s POV

“I feel so bad, I should have told her sooner.” the voice was blurry, like I was listening to it under water. Still, I could tell it was Asriel’s. “I didn’t think they would come to greet us as soon as we came home!”

“It’ll be alright child.” A new voice, calming, caring, but firm. “Why don’t you go tend to the flowers in the garden? I’ll be here when they wake up.”

There was silence for a moment and then the click of a door closing. I groaned and slowly opened my eyes. The room wasn’t brightly lit but it all felt strange. I was laying in a new bed. I ran through what happened. I arrive to the Underground and… those skeleton brothers. That had to be some hallucination right? They aren’t here. That’s ridiculous. 

I looked around and saw another monster like Asgore and Asriel. She smiled softly at me. “You’re awake, this is wonderful.” she knelt beside the bed and put a fluffy hand to my forehead. “How are you feeling, dear?”

I flinched a little at the touch. “I… um… I’m okay? I guess?” I stuttered out. “Are you the… the queen?”

She pulled her hand away, seemingly satisfied. “Yes. My name is Toriel. Do you have a name?”

I stared, unsure of what to do with myself. “Frisk.” I speak slowly and cautiously. 

“Frisk…” she tested it out. “I understand that you fainted when you arrived. What happened?”

I sat up on the edge of the bed. “I thought I saw a couple of skeletons. My… owners. Sans and Papyrus. They were different but the same.” I laugh awkwardly. “But that makes no sense. I must have been delirious from travel.”

She frowns slightly. “I’m afraid that you did meet them, they were very real.”

I shook my head. “That’s impossible.” again my head felt like it was spinning.

“I know it’s hard to believe. We are still trying to figure it out too. I can assure you though, they are not your owners. You are far away from that city.” her voice was, on some level, comforting.

Freedom was a weird concept to me. This whole place felt weird, I felt like I just landed on another planet. I got up and started to leave the room, Toriel just behind me. Outside the door was the rest of a small home with one other bedroom. The place was tidy and the atmosphere was calming. I go to a window and outside is a city. Humans and monsters bustling around… no one was in chains, no one looked scared, and everyone was acting like it was normal. I stared for a little while. It felt like a weight was lifting off of me. 

Toriel laughed softly. “Welcome to your new home child.”

I started smiling then I frowned again. “What do I do now? I have nothing except what’s in my backpack.”

“Don’t you worry about that. We have some housing for humans that have gone through the same things you have and there are programs set up to help you get work so you are able to take care of yourself.” Toriel explained with a smile. “But that can wait, why don’t you have some pie with me?”

I took a breath. “That sounds really nice right now.”

\------

Sans POV

Screw paperwork.

Honestly, its the bane of my existence. I haven’t gone upstairs in about a week now, going through all of my research was ass enough, going through Gaster’s research was a nightmare. His cliff-notes had cliff-notes and his citations had citations. Its so thorough I wanted to burn it. I was on the last few chapters of his “notes” on determination though. 

Not that I would be able to get through it without interruptions. 

There was a loud banging at the door to my lab.

“SANS!!!” boomed Papyrus from the other side. Even from all the way down here I could hear him clearly.

It’s a good thing I’m still a little buzzed otherwise I might be been more mad. I set down the papers and go up to answer the door. There stood my brother, hands on hips like a mother who caught their child in the cookie jar.

“Where is that human?” he demanded. "I thought they were down there with you."

“Dunno.” I answered a shrug. Not a lie.

He narrowed his eyes. “What is that supposed to mean? They _aren’t_ with you?”

“Nope. Guess she ran off or something.” okay that was a bit of a slip of the tongue.

“Ran off?” he looked surprised then angry. 

“Why do you care anyway? Wasn’t it you who made them run away that one time?” I straightened and shut the door to my lab behind me as I side stepped him to go to the kitchen.

He scowled. “You know my reason for that. Besides, Father needs that human now.” he followed me. “Where did they go?”

“Dunno.” I took out a glass and poured myself some water. 

Papyrus huffed. “Well you’re going to have to explain that to Father tonight. He’s coming over for dinner and to retrieve the human. 

“Cool.” _Shit._

\-----

Frisk POV

Within a couple of days I had been given an apartment of my own in the capitol. It was very small but at least it was mine. I was also assigned to a human guide for however long I needed her. Her name was Penny. She was only a few years older than I was but she was chipper about almost everything. I appreciated her presence, she made walking through the streets feel a little more normal.

Toriel told me that there was no rush in getting a job or joining society. All former slaves were given as much time as we needed to adjust to this new life. 

But it only took a few nights of dreaming about my Sans to let me know that if I didn’t do something with myself I would go even more mad. There was a staffing agency in Snowdin, it couldn’t hurt to look into it. 

Penny met me at my apartment that morning. “Are you sure sure you want to do this so soon?” she asked with concern as we exited the building. “I thought maybe I could show you around the Underground first. Maybe start getting you adjusted to the four different areas.” 

“We can still do that.” I assured. “I just… need to do something with my hands. I’m getting anxious.”

She gave a half smile. “Alright, if it helps you feel better. I’ll advice not to take a job that’s so labor intensive though. Give yourself some time to relax at least.”

I just shrug. 

We take a boat ride to Snowdin. The hooded person taking us hummed the whole way as Penny did her best to point out landmarks on the way.

We arrived and headed into the small town. I followed Penny into town but kept myself vigilant for those skeletons. I wasn’t sure if it was because I was curious or cautious. 

The building we went into was actually the library… librarby? I sat down with one of the monsters and they asked me generic questions about my skills and talents. I gulped and told her about my basic skills. What I really wanted to know was if I could do anything with my magic… but I felt so unsure about it. I haven’t seen anyone outside of monsters use magic since I’ve gotten here. 

“You say you know how to cook and clean, there might be something in the hotel in Hotland. Is there anything else?” she asked sweetly.

“Um…” I took a breath. “I can do magic.”

Her pen dropped from her hand. “M-magic? Are… are you quite sure?” she asked tentatively. 

I nod and concentrate on my hand, it sparks to life with a small flame. "See?"

"My goodness... I have to make a call."

_Maybe this wasn’t a good idea?_

\-----

Sans POV

There was a knock at the door. 

Damn. I thought I had more time. I stayed out of the lab for the rest of the day and took a nap to help get rid of the buzz of the whiskey.

Papyrus answered the door. I heard him give a polite but cheerful greeting. With a heavy sigh I stood and teleported down to the living room. 

And so my father was here, in my home. He looks to me with a professional smile. “Hello, son.”

“Hey, Dad.” I say casually with a yawn.

Papyrus turns. “I’ll go make sure dinner is ready.” he gives me one last ‘you deserve this’ look before exiting the room.

“Where is your human?” he asks expectantly.

“Gone.” I feel a shiver crawl up my spine as Gaster’s good eye flashes purple. 

“You let it run away?” his voice remains calm but there’s a sharp edge.

“I never allowed anything like that.” I cross my arms. 

There’s a long heavy silence as he just glares at me. “My son,” he cuts through the quiet like a knife, “I know you could have done better to keep track of it.”

I shrug, still keeping the facade of casual. “Nothing that can be done now. I wouldn’t know where to look for her anyway. If you want a human for your new experiments you’ll have to get one yourself.”

He frowns. “Don’t be so lazy. That human rightfully belongs to you.” he cocks his head to the side. “Or is it the other way around?”

I narrow my eyes. “The hell is that supposed to mean?”

Gaster chuckles. “Do you think that I didn’t notice that moment of panic when your precious human got located by my determination tracker? Surely you must take me for a fool. Perhaps I am for letting it go like I did.”

Panic flooded me again. “It’s not what you think?” I said, knowing that it was probably the worst thing to say right now.

He shakes his head. “You were given a brilliant mind when you were born, I would appreciate it if you _used it_.” a dark mist surrounds his body. I don’t even breath as he takes a moment to regain his composure. 

Papyrus came out with some food from the kitchen. Gaster gave me a look and I knew this conversation wasn’t over.

We sat down and ate in near silence. Papyrus attempted conversation a few times but ultimately gave up. I missed Frisk’s cooking, not saying my brother’s cooking was bad, but it was really bad. My soul ached a little.

After the so-called meal we got up and Gaster motioned for me to go with him.

“It was pleasant to see you Father.” Papyrus says his goodbyes before immediately leaving. Gaster only seemed to notice a little. Obviously my brother didn’t want to be around for the aftermath of the nuclear explosion that we both were expecting from Gaster.

I huffed and followed Gaster out the front door. I take that opportunity to light up a cigarette. 

Surprisingly, so does he.

“Thought you quit?” I question.

He shrugs as smoke spills out of his mouth. “A recent project of mine has made life exceptionally stressful. This recent complication just gives us more work to do.”

“...Us?” I lean my back on the house.

“That’s right. I’m bringing you in on this project. Your research on resets and the human soul will come in handy.” he starts walking away. “Come with me to my lab.” then he fazes out of existence. 

I take a long drag. “Damn it.” then I teleport with him.

I arrive to his lab in time for him to pull up a long list on his laptop. He then steps aside. “Take a look.”

I cock an eyebrow at him before sitting at his desk. The list was extensive and filled with humans, their slave ID given to them while at school, names of owners, HP, LV, soul color, determination level. Most of their HP and LV was very low and soul colors were dull. This looked like a normal catalog of the humans.

“And?” I asked, slightly annoyed. Why would he bring me here just to show me something I could easily access myself?

He smirks proudly and shows me the other tab he had open. It was open to a certain file in the catalog… except now, a few of them had their exact geographical location along with everything else. It was hers.

My eyes widen. _Frisk..._

Gaster chuckles. “I’ve only just begun to unlock the code to determination. Once I have a hold on it, we may be able to completely subjugate humanity. No more rebellions, no more fighting. We can all finally live in peace. With your human and their exceptionally high determination levels, I can find out more than just how to track it. The possibilities are endless."

I just stared at her file, utterly horrified. This couldn't be anymore of a nightmare.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out. Life has sucked lately and i've been dealing with some crap. But i still have some really good ideas for this and thank you for sticking around! you guys are awesome!


	15. Please Don't Fight Me

I sat alone with Penny in the librarby, the monster who was helping me now on the phone across the room. I couldn’t hear what she was saying.

“Did…” I start asking hesitantly. “Did I do something wrong?” I can feel myself tensing, ready to fight or run.

“No, Frisk… I don’t think so.” Penny reassured. “It’s just… no human has been known to be able to do magic down here."

The monster got off the phone and calmly came back to the table. I sat there feeling way too tense. “I’ve been told that you should go to Alphys in Hotland.” She informed. “From there, I believe the queen has something in mind.”

I swallowed. “Thanks.” I got up and immediately went outside into the cold air to take a breath.

“Hey, it’s okay.” Penny started reassuring. “Alphys is great. I think you’ll like her a lot.”

I nod. “I just feel like I’ve given up some important information I shouldn’t have.” I look to my guide, “This won’t come to hurt me right?”

“Of course not! Just because you’re unique doesn’t make you any less than anyone else.” she smiled. “You ready to go to Hotland or do you want to wait a few minutes? I know there’s a Nice cream vender around here somewhere.”

I sit down on a bench. “Nice cream sounds really… nice.” 

She trots off and leaves me alone in the silence. There were a few moments where everything was completely peaceful. 

I look around and just in the distance I saw the two skeletons. Papyrus was waving at me and calling out. “HUMAN! HUMAN!”

Before I could think about what to do he had already made it here. I stood up, and even at my full height I only made it to just below his shoulder.

“GREETINGS HUMAN! I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS!” He introduced himself with confidence. “I WAS INFORMED UPON YOUR ARRIVAL THAT MINE AND MY BROTHERS PRESENCE MIGHT HAVE BEEN SOMEWHAT FRIGHTENING.” he bowed deeply. “I CAN ASSURE YOU THAT YOU HAVE NOTHING TO BE AFRAID OF.”

The shorter skeleton finally caught up, not that he seemed to be in a rush. “yeah, we meant to let you know earlier that we’re sorry about that.”

I was stiff. “I… um…” I studied Papyrus’s face. He did look like he was genuinely sorry. “I accept your apology. It’s... uh... not really your fault.” I look to sans. “I was just taken off guard, I suppose.”

Sans cocks his head to the side but says nothing.

Penny runs up, seeming a little concerned. “Frisk, is everything okay?”

I nod. There was a part of me that wanted to get away but another part that felt it was unfair him as the Papyrus that I knew on the surface. Not that I understood how there were two Papyrus’s, but that didn’t mean that they were the exact same, right? I can deal with this. “Everything is okay, these two were just introducing themselves.” I take one of the nice creams from her and unwrap it. “I’m ready to go to Hotland whenever you are.”

“HOTLAND? IF YOU SEE ALPHYS TELL HER I SAID HELLO!” Papyrus then takes out a piece of paper and a pen, “ALSO, SINCE I’M SURE YOU’RE IN NEED OF SOME GREAT FRIENDS, I WILL GIVE YOU MY NUMBER!” he thrusts the paper into my hands before trotting off.

I look at the paper, he had some very interesting handwriting. I put it in my pocket for later.

Sans lingers for a few moments. “thanks for not passing out on us this time, kid. I got a faint feeling that we’ll be seeing each other again very soon.” he grins and suddenly he’s gone. 

So this sans can teleport just like my Sans. 

Slowly we make our way back to the boat and head to Hotland. Penny hovered close to me, worried that seeing the skeletons would trigger me into a panic, but oddly enough, I was pretty calm. I felt spooked at first but now I feel like it’s okay. For now. Papyrus could turn out to be just as bad as the one I knew on the surface, but until then, I’ll accept that he is loud but good.

As we passed through the caves of Waterfall I managed to find roads, homes, and…

I thought I saw sans for just a moment. He was at one of those guard outposts I’ve seen scattered around the Underground.

He looked over at me and smiled. 

Then my soul started to ache. _Why can't my Sans be here too?_

I looked down at the bottom of the boat for the rest of the time. 

We arrived in Hotland and it wasn’t a far walk to the lab. The door slid open and we were greeted by a little dinosaur lady typing away at a computer and giggling to herself. Then she notices that we entered and immediately scrambles out of her chair, blushing. “O-oh! I-I didn’t think y-you guys would come s-straight here!” she studdered out.

“If you’re busy we can come back later?” Penny offers.

“Nonono th-that’s alright. Th-this shouldn’t t-take very long.” She walks over to me and looks at me like she’s thinking. Then she looks startled. “O-oh dear, I’m sorry. I haven’t even introduced myself to you. M-my name i-is Dr. Alphys.”

“Um… Frisk.” I offer a smile. 

“O-okay… um… lets get started.” she leads me back to her computer where she immediately exits out of the chat room she was in... with a B!g_Sw0rd_B0ss. “H-how long have you b-been able to do magic?”  
“A few months? It was kind of an accident…” I admit. 

“Wh-what happened?” she asked, intrigued.

I explained about the day at the store. “S… my master… wasn’t very pleased about it.”

She frowns. “I-I can assure you that this is a s-safe place f-for your magic.” a small smile returns again. 

I smile a little too, trying to stay calm and confident about this situation.

Alphys types some information into her computer and then turns back to me. “S-so, to get an i-idea as to what you can do, I-I’m going to put you in an encounter with another monster.”

My heart stops for a moment. “Like… like a fight?”

“Goodness no!” she shakes her head. “It’s g-going to b-be more like s-sparring.”

Penny shifts beside me. “Are you sure this is a good idea, Frisk?”

I look to Alphys. “I-It’ll be the b-best way I can g-gather data about your magic. N-no one will get hurt in the encounter, I promise you that. And y-you can call it off whenever you want. D-does that sound okay to you?”

On one hand, I would love to know more about how my magic works, but on the other, this sounded terrifying.

But I was filled with determination. “Alright.” I nodded. “Let’s do this.”

“G-great!” Alphys takes her phone out. “I-I’ll call my a-assistant.” she dials and puts it to her ear.

“Hello?” sans appeared right behind Alphys as he answered his phone.

Alphys jumped and screeched. “Why d-do you a-always insist on d-doing that?” she yelled. Her yelling was really only a little louder than her speaking voice.

He chuckles, “i just gotta make sure you know its me and not some phone-y.” he winks.

She grumbles and shakes her head.

I gulp and don’t look at him.

“O-okay, you two, we’re going to my control room.” she leads us down an elevator and into a large empty room. It almost looked like Undyne’s training room but it has a giant window that stretched down most of the room.

Alphys and sans are talking about the experiment while I give Penny a reassuring look. That doesn’t stop her from looking worried. I’ll make it up to her by letting her show me the Underground after this.  
Alphys gives a thumbs up to me and scurries out of the room and shuts the door behind her. She stands beside Penny at the window, eagerly watching.

I turn to sans. 

“don’t worry, kid. i aint gonna hurt ya.” he shrugs.

I take a breath. This is okay. “I-I’m not worried.” I activate my magic and bits of fire spark to life on my finger tips. I can feel so much magic flowing through me, and I’m ready for anything he throws at me. He doesn’t do anything. “Aren’t you supposed to defend yourself? Or fight? Or something?”

He looks at me lazily. “if you really want.” he takes one of his hands out of his jacket pocket and flicks a finger at me before putting his hand back.

I tense as a small bone comes out of the ground and slowly crawls its way towards me. I easily step over it. I slump. “That’s it?” I look back to Alphys who looks a little frustrated too but urges me to go ahead and use my magic on him.

I raise my hand to him. How can I spar with someone who isn't doing anything?

He watches me, curiously.  
I then flick my finger at him and a small flare shoots at him.

He easily dodges and chuckles. “sparks are really flying in here, arent they?”

I laugh. “Your puns are so bad.”

“thanks kid.” he grins wider.

Alphys comes in. “Th-this is getting n-nowhere with you two.”

“aw come on doc, things were really heating up.” sans says innocently. I laugh again.

She takes her phone out again, “I’ll j-just call someone who will t-take this m-more seriously. Frisk, go ahead and take a breather.”

I shrug and go to lean against a wall to wonder who else she’s going to pit against me this time.

It was another few minutes of waiting before the door opened again.

“I CAN ABSOLUTELY SOLVE THIS PUZZLE!” a very familiar voice chimes. “HUMAN! I WILL FIGURE OUT IF YOU TRULY HAVE MAGIC!”

I move immediately to the other side of the room. “Wait…” my heart started pounding. “I’m fighting you?” I frantically look to the others at the window and then back to Papyrus. This was an all too familiar scene. 

His brother walks in behind him. “i’ll just be referee for this one.” he leans against the wall and closes his eyes, looking to be dozing. He's no help at all.

“FEAR NOT HUMAN! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL DO NOTHING TO HARM YOU!” he assured but it was too late. I could see it all playing out again, just like the fight in the yard.

I couldn’t speak, i couldn’t move. I knew somewhere that this wasn’t the same Papyrus that killed me, but this was terrifying all the same.

Seeing that I haven’t done anything yet, the tall skeleton makes the first move. With a “NYEH!” he sends a small wave of bones at me.

Something in me triggered. I screamed and fell back trying to escape. That’s when I felt magic explode from my soul. Fire and lightning burst from me and shook the room with a thunderous _BOOM!_

I took a few breaths and looked up. Papyrus and sans were behind the cracked glass. I caught the flashing of blue in sans’s eye for just a moment before blinking and looking back up to his brother. Alphys was looking at a machine in her hand with her mouth agape. Penny had her hands over her mouth.

I took a long breath and got up to go out to the others.

“WELL I’M GLAD I HAVE SOLVED YOUR PUZZLE, ALPHYS! I AM A MASTER OF ALL THINGS PUZZLING, AFTERALL.”

“I-I… Y-yeah. Th-thank you Papyrus.” Alphys notices the cracks in the window and stares at them all, utterly fascinated. 

“good job bro.” sans patted his brother’s shoulder. “hey isn’t it about time for dinner?”

“YOU ARE CORRECT SANS. I’LL GO START THE SPAGHETTI!” he smiles brightly and looks over to me. “YOU ARE, OF COURSE, INVITED OVER FOR DINNER IF YOU WISH!” he then nods and marches out triumphantly.

“Are you okay?” Penny couldn’t hold back her worry anymore. 

“Yeah.” the panic was gone, only to be replaced by guilt. I didn’t mean to attack Papyrus like that. I didn’t realize I even had that much power. “Just a little worn out.”

“Why didn’t you call if off? I could tell you were freaked out.” 

I glance back to sans, who is talking in hushed tones with Alphys. “I don’t know… it’s… weird to explain.” i put my hand on her shoulder. “Look, I’m fine now okay?”

She crosses her arms. “You are so stubborn.”

“O-okay.” Alphys chimes in. “F-Frisk, a couple things have been decided. The first th-thing i that y-you should come by h-here a few times a w-week so that we can help you control your magic. That w-was a lot of magic you th-threw out there just now.”

I shrink, feeling embarrassed. “Sorry about that.”

“D-don’t be sorry. No one g-got hurt and w-we know what you c-can kinda do now.” Alphys waves her hands, trying to reassure.

sans is noticeably silent, but he keeps his eye lights on me.

“Th-the second thing is that we probably sh-shouldn’t tell Queen Toriel r-right now.” 

“And why not?” Penny protests.  
“I-if she knew about this r-right now, she w-would o-only worry about Frisk. D-don’t worry, Penny, she’s in good hands.” 

Penny huffs.

I shrug. The fewer people knew the safer I felt at the moment. I wasn’t ready to be noticed by anyone.

We left the lab with the plan of meeting again in a couple of days. Penny decided that that was enough excitement for one day and decided to drop me off at my apartment again. Once I close the door and go to lay on my bed there’s more aching from my soul. Sans, my Sans… it felt like there was trouble. I couldn’t put my finger on it. This was a brand new sensation though. Was he in trouble? 

I clutch my chest, now wondering if Gaster had anything to do with this. He was so far away. I couldn’t help him if i wanted to.

That’s when I decide that if this feeling continues for too much longer, I’ll have to go back. 

I’ll learn how to use my magic and go back and make Sans come with me back here where it was safe.

I am filled with determination.  
\----

Sans POV

I woke up at my desk with my soul aching. After a groan and a curse i look around and realize that I’m not in my lab. With a start I get up, the chair rolling back into another desk with a loud clang.  
“Finally awake, son?” Gaster’s voice echoed.

I turned to see him standing over a coffee maker, waiting for it to finish. “Y…yeah…” I turn back to the computer I was working at. It looked like I was writing some nonsense notes on soul color. That sinking feeling came back as reality set in. I was only putting off the inevitable. 

“I can always tell when you’re avoiding something, you always fall asleep for a few hours. Its a habit I could never get out of you ever since you were a child.” Gaster shakes his head. “I can allow you this habit because you always end up doing what I want in the end.” he pours himself a cup of coffee and fully turns to me. “What I cannot allow is for a son of my magic and soul to be so influenced by a human.” 

So he does want to continue this conversation. “I’m not influenced. There wasn’t anything between us to take me away from the goal.”

He studies me while he drinks the coffee. I can feel his eyes not just on my face anymore, he was checking me. My face was something I could keep steady… 

My soul is a different issue.

"You are a foolish boy sometimes." There was heavy tension in his voice now. Like I thought, I wasn't able to hide it from him. "But there is still time to fix this mess you've gotten into." He motions for me to follow. 

My fists shook at my sides as I follow. He leads me to his testing rooms. All of my regrets popping up in my mind. Why didn't I leave with her? How could I let him see through me so easily? Why didn't I back up my data earlier? _Damn_ it why did I stay?

He leads me to a particular room where a human is cuffed to a testing table. 

They struggle against the chains hard as soon as they see us through the window. Their wrists are already bruised. They screamed. 

But nobody came. 

My soul ached again. What if that was her? Part of my soul spoke. But here, with my father's eyes leering at me, I'm reminded of what I've been taught all my life. What if that was one of _us_? Humans were destructive creatures before the monsters took over. It was for their own good. But Frisk is good. Humans aren't all bad? They can't be...

"I can already feel the conflict within you. Good." He opened the door, and walked in. "What I need you to do is extract their determination. I'm sure you've seen me do it enough." He spoke so casually but the expectation that was in front of me was monumental. 

I stood in the doorway and stared at the human. The fear in their eyes, as they looked back at me like I was their last hope. 

Gaster motioned and the human's soul floated above them. It was also red. Nothing like Frisk's. This one was a dull shade. No brightness or beauty, just a soul struggling to stay determined. Despite everything. 

I looked to my father again. I could tell he was quickly getting impatient. 

I started to raise my hand to start up the giant machine pointed at the human but the thought of giving up Frisk, the one thing in my life that was truly _mine_... I couldn't. 

So I turned and left the room.

Where do you think you're going?" Gaster was on my heel in a moment. 

"I can't do this." My voice was shaking. " _Fuck this_."

"I see…" a voice so chilling I had to look back to make sure it came from him. 

A dark mist was quickly forming around him and all around the hall. I had only seen something like this happen once before. It didn't end well for the other guy. 

Nothing could have prepared me for when the darkness swallowed us. 

The void around us seemed endless. 

The thing in front of me looked like my father… but at the same time it wasn't. 

There was a tall looming figure that was somehow darker than the darkness around me. His hands were steepled in front him and four new sets of hands arched around him. Then five blasters with flashing eyes and huge sharp teeth appeared behind him. 

But his face was still all I could look at. The cracks in his skull deepened and that hollow smile that was creeping across his face looked to be melting. 

This was the _monster_ under my bed, the darkness in the back of all my thoughts, the shadow at the corner of my eye. _Him._

There was no way I could FIGHT him. No ACT would make this go away. I had no ITEMS to help me. The look in his eye already said there would be no MERCY. The only chance I had was to FLEE.   
I turned to run but there he was. As though I had never moved. I was trapped. 

His voice was distorted, like listening to it through radio static. "YOU LEAVE WHEN I SAY YOU LEAVE, BOY."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been a small eternity since i've last posted. Moving and having no internet for a while will do that. I hope you guys still enjoy! I promise i haven't stopped writing and i will post more frequently now!


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